When the Sun Goes Down
by Chika Croi
Summary: In ancient text, on the night of the eclipses, a battle ensues as the sun fights for her freedom while the moon fights for a light that does not rightfully belong to him. Despite the warnings, despite the defeats, despite that amount of hatred the moon has built up for centuries for his sister, one thing remains certain: he will never stop hunting her until he has stolen her light.
1. Ichi-Hiki

**Author's Note:** Alright, so many (many) years ago, I decided to write my first FanFiction. It was of the YYH genre, and it was titled '_Tremble for My Beloved_'. It's horrendous. I'm not even kidding, it was the worst thing ever. I was SUCH a bad writer back then. xD. Anyways, as it stands, I'd like to think that I've improved a little. And because I couldn't leave my very first Original Character all alone in the dark, I decided to just revise, revamp, and rewrite the very first FanFic I've ever written. I am craving your reviews on this one, so don't hesitate to give them. I've been working on this for a long time and I loveth you. So loveth me back and send me a review. (:

I want to give a big thanks to **littlemija69** for being there for me throughout this story literally every step of the way. It was her stories that gave me the inspiration to begin writing FanFiction in the first place. I also want to give a big thanks to **Mayushii** for answering some technical questions for me and for making me impeccably happy with her Saisei Project.

This story takes place in the pseudo-space between the Sensui Arc and the Three Kings Arc. As far as you should be concerned, the Three Kings Arc doesn't take place in this series. So no Raizen, no Mukuro, and no Yomi. And no Makai Tournament. And definitely none of that splitting up nonsense.

**Disclaimer: **If you recognize it, I don't own it.

* * *

**When The Sun Goes Down**

_Prologue_

_It's not a secret that for centuries people have been enamored with the sky above them. The endless sea of stars that always seem to be just out of reach have always been of interest to anybody brave enough to look up. There are two objects up in the sky, however, that have gathered more curiosity than all the stars combined. Depending on where you are in the world will depend on the story you receive about these two mystical objects, but no matter where you go, there is always some sort of legend or story at the heart of it all._

_The sun, portrayed as a Goddess and as a God, represents all things that are light. The moon, also portrayed as a Goddess and as a God, represents all things that are dark. Some say that they're siblings, other say that they're lovers. One point that has remained constant is that there's always a story for why one is always in the sky while the other is not._

_A popular theory is that they are siblings, a brother and sister, who could never stop arguing. The moon was jealous of the sun for always being associated with light, and felt that the sun was loved and wanted more. The moon wanted the light from the sun, hoping it would make his wish come true. For centuries the moon has been chasing his sister, trying very hard to achieve his dream. On the night of the new moon it is said that is the only day the brother takes rest, so that he can resume his chase._

_But it's the night of the eclipses where these two siblings finally meet one another. A battle ensues as the sun fights for her freedom while the moon fights for a light that does not rightfully belong to him. With baited breath the people wait to see who wins, and every year the sun has been able to retain her light through both eclipses, but on the other hand, the moon has still been able to chase her._

_Some wonder if it's because the sun does not want to lay waste to her brother, or if there is something keeping her from fully protecting herself. Others believe the reason for his failure each year is because the two objects cannot exist in this dimension without the other, both unknowing of their fate as they battle. Perhaps it is fate that intervenes; perhaps these siblings have guardians of their own that help to protect them from completely destroying one another._

_Despite the warnings, despite the defeats, despite that amount of hatred the moon has built up for centuries for his sister, one thing remains certain: he will never stop until he has stolen her light._

* * *

_Chapter One_

Sky blue eyes looked up at the moon, enamored at the silver light it cast upon the Earth below it. Placing a hand over her heart, Ayumi tilted her head slightly to stare at the mysterious object that floated in the night sky. She was never sure why, but the moon always made her feel so small, and maybe even a little nervous. A silly thought, really. What harm could such a beautiful thing do anyways? Regardless, she felt restless, which was unfortunately normal for her. She always felt a bit restless at night.

She dragged her eyes away from the silver and white orb to look out over the street from the balcony outside her apartment. It was a quiet night in Tokyo, fairly chilly, and the wind made Ayumi shiver a little. She should have put a robe or a sweater on before coming outside, but then again, she had the tendency to do things without thinking. At least her feet, which were inside her fuzzy red house slippers, were nice and toasty.

Ayumi pulled a few strands of red hair back from the wind's pull and began to run her fingers through her scalp, gathering her hair into her hands and starting the usual French braid that she slept in when the sliding glass door behind her opened and she turned slightly, catching sight of her grandmother.

"You should be dreaming right about now, not standing outside."

"Just couldn't seem to fall asleep, Obaachan." She finished her braid and tied it off with a simple black band and turned to face her grandmother, leaning back against the railing of the balcony. Her grandmother was a very stern looking woman, but underneath the harsh look she was a gentle woman at heart. Albeit with a sarcastic mouth and quite a bit of tough love.

"Still afraid of the moon, ichi-hiki?" she asked, closing the door behind her so the chill didn't get in. Ayumi blushed at the nickname and turned slightly, catching the moon in her peripheral.

"Nonsense. There's nothing to be afraid of."

Her grandmother laughed, a laugh that Ayumi was familiar with and she ducked her head down in embarrassment. "You can never sleep when it's full. Always afraid that it's going to smother you."

"Obaachan…" Ayumi mumbled, her face suddenly feeling rather warm. The old woman laughed again.

"Come inside. You'll freeze out here, and don't think that you're going to miss your first day of high school just because you were silly enough to give yourself a cold," she scolded, ushering Ayumi back inside the apartment, closing and locking the sliding glass door behind them.

"I still don't think I'm going to be able to sleep," Ayumi started, earning a stern glare from her grandmother. She went to speak again, but her grandmother held her hand up and Ayumi's mouth snapped shut.

"I'll make you some herbal tea that will help. And then you're going to go to bed." Ayumi sighed and followed her Obaachan in defeat, taking a seat at the kotatsu in the middle of their living room. Once the kotatsu blanket covered her, Ayumi relaxed a little as the heat began to warm her legs. Her grandmother brought a tray of tea in not long after, sitting opposite of Ayumi and covering her lower half with the kotatsu as well. The two drank their tea in relative silence, Ayumi's mind buzzing about a dream she kept having recently.

"Obaachan…" Ayumi trailed off, wondering if she should ask. Her grandmother had taken her daughter's death very hard, and with the death of her husband not so far away, Ayumi didn't want to risk upsetting her.

"Do you always think so hard in the middle of the night?" the old woman asked, peering into her tea for a while before taking a sip. Biting her bottom lip for a moment, Ayumi decided to ask.

"What did okasaan look like?" she asked quietly, noticing how her grandmother went a little rigid. "It's just…there's no pictures of her in the house, and I can't remember…" she said quickly, hoping her grandma wasn't too upset. There was a heavy silence in the air for a while before her grandmother cleared her throat.

"A lot like you," she started, staring hard into her tea once more. "Most of all, you have her eyes. Too much water…" she continued, meaning the unusual color of Ayumi's eyes. It was uncommon for a Japanese child to have so much blue in their eyes, and Ayumi still didn't know where it came from. Her grandmother didn't have blue eyes, and neither did her recently departed grandfather. But her mother had the same strange shade of bright blue. "You have her face and body type. In fact, you would be an exact replica if it weren't—"

"—For the hair," they finished in unison, Ayumi chuckling a little. She had inherited her red hair from her father, whom she had never met, but was told he was as Irish as they could come with hair the color of the suns core. Honestly, the only reason people could tell Ayumi was Japanese at all was because of her body frame and complexion.

"Why do you ask, anyways?"

Ayumi frowned at the question and finished off her tea. "I keep seeing a woman in my dreams. I thought maybe it was okasaan."

"Is it?" her grandmother asked, but Ayumi shook her head.

"No. I'm not sure who she is." Ayumi stood and began to gather the small mess the two had made, but her grandmother's hands were suddenly on top hers, stopping them from moving.

"You've been up long enough. Goodnight, ichi-hiki." Ayumi blinked a few times and tipped her head to the side, smiling.

"Goodnight obaachan."

With her bag over her shoulder, Ayumi closed her apartment door behind her. Her grandmother had still been asleep when she got up, which wasn't unusual since they were up so late. Ayumi herself was feeling a little tired from the lack of sleep, but shrugged it off as she locked the door and placed her keys in her bag. It was April 1st, which meant it was the first day of school and Ayumi didn't want to be late. The apartment door next to hers opened and she turned to watch as her neighbor stumbled out, carrying three oversized bags of garbage. She blinked a few times and smiled, shaking her head a little.

"Yusuke-san?"

He dropped one of the bags he was carrying and turned slightly, his face twisted into an 'I-am-definitely-not-a-morning-person-so-who-the-hell-is-talking-to-me' expression as his eyes landed on Ayumi. The anger melted however when he realized who it was and he stood up straight, his face turning into a semi-warm smile as he reached his finger up to scratch the tip of his nose. "How many times do you I have to tell you, Ayumi? Its just Yusuke."

Ayumi bowed slightly in acknowledgement, grabbing the garbage bag he had dropped and waited for him to get a better hold of the other two. Yusuke and his mother Atsuko had been her neighbors for the past few years ever since his old apartment had caught fire, and over the past few years Ayumi had grown to have a strange likeness for the guy. She couldn't put her finger on it, but she had a feeling that Yusuke managed to make everyone around him intrigued and welcomed. He just had that aura about him that made people want to get closer, she supposed.

"All right then, _just_ _Yusuke_," she started, smiling a little as he smiled in thanks and they headed for the stairs. "You know, if you aren't careful you're going to be late for school."

Yusuke blinked a few times and looked down at the pajama pants and white shirt he was still wearing and shrugged. "Nah, it'll be fine." Ayumi didn't quite believe the dismissive tone, but since it was none of her business she didn't say anything. Yusuke definitely wasn't the typical neighbor, and between the unusual friends he brought over from time to time and the racket he made, she wasn't quite sure if she wanted to know _why_ he was such an odd neighbor. "How's your grandma?" Yusuke asked, probably to fill the silence.

Ayumi appreciated the gesture nonetheless. "She's alright. I imagine she's lonelier than she'd like to admit ever since ojiisan died." Yusuke stopped momentarily to look at Ayumi from the corner of his eyes, a small frown on his face.

"That's right, I keep forgetting. I'm sorry," he started, sounding a little embarrassed, but Ayumi waved it off.

"It's quite alright." Yusuke accepted, let out a ferocious yawn, and resumed walking, the two of them leaving the apartment building and heading for the trash bins by the apartment. Ayumi kept noticing the look that he kept giving her, and after the trash had been taken care of she turned to face him. "Is something wrong?" she asked, quirking an eyebrow. Yusuke offered a sheepish smile and shoved his hand into his hair, which hadn't been gelled back as of yet.

"No. Why? Do you feel like there's something wrong? Do you feel weird or something?" he asked, eyes widened slightly and Ayumi could swear she saw a spark of curiosity.

"Um, no? Why would I?" she asked him, unused to any real expression in his eyes. The curiosity disappeared as Yusuke's expression returned to normal into something more familiar, which was incredibly bored and dull looking.

"Just wondering. Thought maybe there was a bug going around or something…" he trailed off, shoving his hands into his pockets. "Alright, well, you're probably on your way to school. I'm going to go get ready myself. So, I'll see you around?" he asked, offering a smile. After a moment Ayumi returned it and nodded.

"Yeah, you will. Say hello to Atsuko for me?" Ayumi asked. He gave her a thumb up and turned to head back into the building. She stared at his retreating back with a frown, wondering what that was all about. Letting out a sigh, she realized she was going to be late if she didn't hurry, and headed off in the direction of her school. She breathed in the spring air and tilted her head up towards the sun, a soft smile on her face. As Yusuke disappeared from her mind, she realized that she was feeling a lot better than she was last night. Maybe her obaachan was right; maybe she was still afraid of the moon. Ayumi let out a huff of air and shook her head at herself.

Being afraid of the moon was complete nonsense.

* * *

Yusuke watched from his balcony as Ayumi headed off down the street, eventually disappearing from view. His eyebrows were knitted together and a hard frown had etched its way onto his face as he regarded his neighbor with suspicion. His thoughts were anyone's guess, but eventually he had it with the seriousness and let out a gust of air and relaxed a little, breathing in the morning air.

"Good morning, Yusuke."

Yusuke gripped the balcony railing hard and mashed his teeth together in annoyance, his heart speeding up in his chest. His head seem to swivel in slow motion towards a certain fox youkai, who looked about as innocent as a puppy. "How many times have I told you not to sneak up on me?" the Toushin asked, breathing heavily through his nose like a bull, angry puffs of air exiting each nostril as a sign of anger and annoyance. Kurama held his hands up in submission.

"To be fair, I wasn't sneaking. I simply walked up here. You just weren't paying attention," he countered easily. Yusuke snorted and looked away from the redheaded thief, clearly having nothing else to say on that particular matter. Probably because Kurama was right, but Yusuke's pride forced his mouth shut.

He changed the subject entirely then. "I take it you saw the girl."

"I did. You weren't being very subtle." Kurama placed his hands into his pockets and leaned against the railing, emerald eyes trained on Yusuke.

"Wasn't in much of a subtle mood," Yusuke admitted, the previous annoyance disappearing as a sly smile slowly formed on his face. All the sudden, as if a switch had turned, his expression darkened considerably and Kurama was sure that was a sign of bipolar disorder. "That damn Koenma, I bet he did this on purpose."

Kurama's expression turned curious at the Toushin's words. "Did what?"

"It's just a little too convenient that my neighbor has been flagged and needs to be watched like a hawk for any signs of anything supernatural."

"I wouldn't say that means he did this on purpose…" Kurama explained, choosing to ignore Yusuke's glare and offered a friendly smile in return. Yusuke sighed and crossed his arms, leaning against the railing as well. "I suppose it would have been nice of him to give us a little something to work with. As it stands, we don't even know what we're looking for."

"No, we do not," Yusuke said, sounding more than a little peeved at the whole thing. "Whatever. I'll figure it out." A comfortable silence fell over the two as Yusuke's thoughts carried him away once more. Finally, he asked, "Aren't you going to be late for school?"

Kurama waved him off. "Hardly."

* * *

Gym was not Ayumi's best subject. She could swim well enough, and she could even play volleyball well enough. But everything else was up for grabs and Ayumi had no luck in catching anything. Sighing in frustration at the bruise that would no doubt appear on her arm tomorrow, Ayumi tucked her gym clothes back into her gym locker and ran a brush through her hair.

"How's that burn feeling?" Ayumi heard from behind her, scowling as she faced her friend, her hand automatically rubbing at the sore spot on her arm.

"Like it's going to be bruised for the next week and a half."

Satsu smiled and rolled her eyes, putting her own gym clothes away and fixing her make-up. "You really should be a little more careful. Though I don't suppose it's your fault for being so clumsy," she said teasingly. Ayumi slammed her locker door shut and placed her headband back into her hair, frustrated with herself. Satsu looked at her with worry. "Hey, don't be so upset. I was only kidding."

Ayumi glanced at the brown-eyed girl and let out a huff of air, smiling a little. "No, I know. I wasn't upset with you. Just myself. I get tired of hurting myself, and this is only day one," she complained. Satsu offered an understanding smile and gathered her stuff, leaving the locker room with Ayumi at her side.

Satsu noticed Ayumi still holding her injured arm and shaking her head a little. "At least you only have gym three times a week this semester."

"That is true," she admitted.

* * *

"So, what do you think?" Yusuke asked, folding his arms across his chest and leaning against the wall. The fire demon that was sitting cross-legged in front of Yusuke slowly opened his crimson colored eyes while the purple eye on his forehead began to close.

"She's a weakling."

"Not helping."

Hiei was quiet then, staring intensely at Yusuke who tried his best not to fidget under Hiei's gaze. "Why did you ask me here, Detective?" Hiei asked then, his voice quiet as he roughly placed a white bandana over the Jagan eye.

"A few reasons. One of them is because I need your help. Is that such a problem?" Yusuke asked tersely, finally tearing his gaze away from his friend's excruciating stare so he could keep his composure.

"Hn, and I suppose you think I am at your beck and call because I was forced into working with you?" Yusuke scowled. That was a low blow, and Hiei knew it.

"Shut up. Jeez, why does everything always have to be so damn difficult with you?" Hiei didn't answer, and Yusuke was losing his patience a little. With a growl he stalked forward and placed his hands on his hips, giving Hiei his meanest glare. "Have I ever given you a reason not to trust me?"

Hiei seemed taken back by the sudden question and he narrowed his eyes suspiciously. He slowly stood, his hands finding their way into his pockets as he stood his ground. Yusuke waited for an answer, clearly not going to do anything else until he got one. Problem was, Hiei wasn't sure which answer to give. Helping Yusuke was not an obligation for him any more, and if he wanted to he could leave and return to the Makai without so much as a word. But something anchored his feet to the floor, and he found himself brooding as to why. "No," he finally answered, and however cautiously the answer was given, Hiei knew it was true. Did he trust Yusuke? Yes. Unfortunately.

Yusuke stared at the hiyoukai for a long time, almost as if he was searching for something and it was now Hiei's turn to try not to fidget under Yusuke's stare. Something passed on Yusuke's face; he had apparently found whatever it was he was searching for, and he straightened up with a short laugh.

"Alright, tough guy. You want to be a pain in the ass? Fine. But I'm asking you as a friend - and don't you give me that look, you know damn well that we are friends despite how hard you're trying to prove otherwise – to stay and help. It may be nothing or it may be something, honestly, I don't know." Yusuke let out a sigh and headed into the kitchen. He opened up the freezer and stuck his hand in, turning slightly to look at Hiei. "But I could use the help, and quite frankly, I could use your company," he finished, muttering the last part and taking Hiei completely by surprise.

"My company?" Hiei asked, narrowing his eyes again.

"Yes. Just because _you_ hate everybody and their brother doesn't mean I feel the same way about you. I hang out with Kurama and Kuwabara all the time, but I don't ever see you. I know you don't really have a lot of friends Hiei, but that's not way to treat the friends you've got," Yusuke said stubbornly, retrieving a tub of ice cream from the freezer. Hiei was giving him a death glare now and Yusuke threw the tub onto the kitchen table, the hiyoukai's eyes traveling to it immediately. "I even got you some ice cream. I know they don't have any in Makai."

Hiei was still for a long time, eyes switching from the tub of ice cream to Yusuke, his thoughts were completely guarded and his face only gave away that he was incredibly annoyed. "I didn't know you could sound like such a sentimental ningen," he finally said, flitting to the kitchen table and tearing the cover off of the ice cream. Yusuke's face broke out into a grin. Hiei looked at the ice cream and then at Yusuke, raising an eyebrow.

"Oh! You need a spoon. Otherwise you'd just be eating ice cream like a barbarian," the Toushin muttered, grabbing a spoon from the drawer and handing it to Hiei, who snatched it and dug in, ignoring Yusuke's jibe completely.

"You are such an annoying twit."

"Right back at you, jackass."

"Remind me, why haven't I killed you yet?"

"Because you'd be heartbroken without me in your life and you know it. You're such a little softie, Hiei. Like a teddy be- OW! Hiei! That hurt!" Yusuke clutched onto the hand that was previously on the hiyoukai's shoulder, inspecting the burn mark left on his skin. The vein in Hiei's forehead hadn't disappeared and he didn't apologize, taking a seat in one of the chairs. Yusuke finished inspecting the damage on his hand and looked at Hiei, who had gotten a little ice cream on his chin. Yusuke grinned again at the sight. "A vicious teddy bear."

"Detective!"


	2. Moving Shadow

**Author's Note:** Hello everyone! Second installment. I hope you guys are enjoying it so far. I loveth you, so loveth me back and send me a review! I'd love to hear from you guys and know what you think, even if you don't really like it. Feedback is encouraging, ya know.

**Disclaimer: **If you recognize it, I don't own it.

* * *

**When The Sun Goes Down**

_Chapter Two_

The sun that was blazing high over Tokyo was going to be setting pretty soon. Yusuke pressed his head against the forearm that was leaning against the window; his eyes on the street that he knew Ayumi took to come home from. She would be there soon, and he was going to be ready for her. The plan he came up with was actually pretty ingenious, and he was pretty proud of himself.

"This is such a stupid idea," Hiei said curtly, stopping Yusuke's thoughts short.

"It's only been two weeks since you've been watching her, Yusuke. Maybe now isn't the best time to spring an attack on the poor girl? What if she doesn't have any supernatural abilities?" Kurama asked, a small frown on his face as he watched Yusuke. Both Kurama and Kuwabara had joined Yusuke at his apartment as soon as school had let out, and Yusuke had informed them of his plan as well of Hiei's stay (which Hiei insisted that he was bribed into doing and it had nothing to do with him actually wanting to be there).

"Nobody is attacking anybody. Hiei is just going to scare the bajeezus out of her and we're going to see what happens."

"This is such a stupid idea," Hiei repeated, crossing his arms.

"I agree with shorty, there has to be some better way of doing this…" Kuwabara mumbled, leaning over Yusuke to look at the street. Ayumi turned the curb and headed for the apartment, causing Yusuke to smile.

"There she is. All right, Hiei. Do your worst. Well…okay, maybe not your worst. Let's not traumatize the girl for life." Yusuke grinned and gave Hiei two thumbs up. Hiei glared at the brown-eyed man he _somehow _respected and slipped out of the apartment door, flitting off of the balcony and heading straight for Ayumi.

The three men remaining in the apartment watched from the window as Ayumi dropped her keys, and as she bent down to retrieve them Hiei appeared a few feet behind her. Yusuke watched, his body tense, when he noticed something strange. They weren't moving.

"Yusuke…" Kurama whispered, his voice strained. "Something's wrong."

"Why aren't they moving? It's like they're in stand still. Do you think she did that?" Kuwabara asked.

"If it was Ayumi's doing then she'd still be able to move…" Kurama said quietly, earning Yusuke's full attention. He had a deep frown on his face and Kurama seemed to be concentrating on something. His eyes suddenly widened and he nearly ran out of the apartment. It only took a second for Yusuke and Kuwabara to follow.

"Hey! What is it?" Yusuke yelled, following Kurama to the edge of their floor and looking out over street.

"I can't believe we didn't sense that," Kurama started, sounding incredibly frustrated with himself. "Concentrate, what do you guys feel?" Kurama reached into his hair at the nape of his neck and retrieved a small seed, which he then used his youki to transform into a rose. Magenta youki surrounded him as the flower petals fell from the stem, a long green whip covered in razor sharp thorns appearing in the flowers place. Kuwabara and Yusuke felt out the area, and then Yusuke caught onto something that made him feel breathless.

"What…the hell is that?" he asked quietly. It felt cold, incredibly cold. Kuwabara's face went blue as he shivered violently for a second.

"Holy crap, guys! That's not good."

Kurama's eyes narrowed. "There." From the route Ayumi had taken came two figures, both of them heading for Ayumi and Hiei. The second man was rather tall with black hair. His hands were shoved into his pockets and his head had ducked down, as if he wasn't really interested in the world around him. But it was the man in front of him that sent chills down Yusuke's spine. Wearing black combat boots that his black pants were tucked into and an open white shirt made it look like he was just another thug, but even from his position Yusuke could see unchecked malice pouring off of this guy.

The two stopped in front of Hiei, and Kurama made a jump for it, both Yusuke and Kuwabara rushing right after him. Kurama, however, surprised Yusuke by aiming his whip not for the man in front, but for the taller man in the back. Yusuke jumped for Hiei just as the guy pulled out a long carved knife that glinted in the sun.

"Hey!" Kurama yelled, gaining the taller man's attention. He lashed the rose whip out and the man's eyes, which Kurama could now see were bright purple, widened as he dived out of the way, landing harshly on his side. There was a loud fizzing noise as the bubble around the area dissipated, allowing Hiei and Ayumi to move again.

Yusuke had jumped in front of Hiei just as the crazy looking guy thrusted his weapon upwards, and Yusuke hissed in pain as the blade entered just above his collarbone, near the shoulder. Hiei's eyes widened with confusion as he landed on the ground, automatically supporting Yusuke who fell back from the blow. Ayumi picked up her keys and turned, eyebrows furrowing in confusion as she saw the strangest thing she's ever seen in her life. Before she could say or do anything, a rather tall man with orange hair and brown eyes, Kuwabara if Ayumi's memory served her, gripped her hand. Ayumi swallowed the scream in her throat as he tugged her towards the apartment.

"No worries, we're here to help you. Come on, we've got to get you inside!"

"What?" Ayumi asked, eyes wide. She realized that she just sounded incredibly stupid but as it was, she didn't know what else to say. She turned her head to watch as her neighbor gripped the knife in his shoulder and pulled it out, the man in front of him taking a few steps back. There were three other men, but that's all Ayumi could see before she was dragged into the apartment building.

"Who the hell are you?"

Yusuke tossed the knife in his hand away as Hiei and Kurama both flanked him, Kurama's rose whip drawn as well as Hiei's katana. "Funny, I was going to ask you the same thing."

"You have no right to interfere," the man stated, black eyes glinting in the sunlight. Yusuke took in his features as incredibly bizarre with short ash colored hair that looked like it had never been brush, but it was his eyes that creeped the Spirit Detective out the most. Well, his eyes and the dark aura this guy was giving off. The man looked from Yusuke and then to the man behind him, who was standing up and brushing himself off, still a little shaken from Kurama's attack.

"Daisuke, can you freeze them?" he asked, eyes narrowing. The man, Daisuke, began to chew on his bottom lip as he thought about it. Eventually, he shook his head.

"No. It's too soon," he said very quietly, ducking his head in apology. Scowling, the man turned back to Yusuke, shoving his hands back into his pocket.

"You're Koenma's boy, aren't you?"

Before Yusuke could respond, Daisuke had stepped up besides the man, looking rather nervous. "Demetri, you can't take them on when the sun is up." Demetri growled and pushed Daisuke away, Yusuke's eyes narrowing as the taller man hit the ground once more. Instead of keeping his mouth shut, the man simply sat up and brushed some of his hair out of his eyes. "Please, listen to me." The two looked at each other before Demetri turned back to Yusuke, looking incredibly pissed off.

"I'll leave you with this, Detective. If you are protecting that girl, I advise you to reconsider."

Yusuke bridled at the 'suggestion' and had to stop himself from attacking. "And why the hell would I want to do that?"

Demetri stared at Yusuke, and then at two demons at his side. A small smile formed on his face as he met Yusuke's eyes once more. "Because if you don't, I will hunt them down, including the lug who took the girl. And afterwards, when you have nothing left, I will rip apart your soul. That girl is mine."

Hiei scoffed and went to attack, but Yusuke threw his arm out, stopping the demon short. Ignoring Hiei's glare, Yusuke set his own hardened look on Demetri. His face relaxed as he smiled, eyes shining with defiance and a promise of something much darker. He didn't know who the hell this guy was or why he was after Ayumi, but he made a horrible mistake by making the Toushin's involvement so personal. Dark blue Mazoku markings faded into Yusuke's skin as his spirit energy tremendously rose. With a snarl Yusuke said, "I'll make sure to remember that as I beat your ass into the ground."

Demetri scoffed at this and turned, yanking Daisuke off of the ground by the wrist. Darkness seemed to envelope the two out of the shadows, turning into a blanket as it began to cover them. "As you wish." The darkness swallowed them up, and when it disappeared it was as if nobody had been there to begin with.

Hiei sheathed his katana and glared at Yusuke, keeping his hand on the hilt. "Why the hell did you stop me?"

"Because he made it personal," he answered, Mazoku markings still prominent on his skin as he turned to face Kurama. "How the hell did you know it was Daisuke who froze them?" Kurama's eyes hardened on the spot where the duo disappeared as he recalled his whip back into the form of a rose.

"An educated guess by way of deduction and hypothesizing. Do you really want me to take you through the thinking process?" Kurama asked, replacing the seed that used to be a rose back into the hair at the nape of his neck.

"Guess not," Yusuke muttered, turning to head back inside the apartment. His shoulder was stinging and he gripped it with annoyance as Yusuke's spirit energy lowered, his demon side falling back into 'sleep' mode. Hiei zeroed in on the wound and scowled, a dark look crossing his features as he walked next to him, Kurama bringing up the rear.

"You didn't have to do that."

Yusuke looked at Hiei and then at his wound and shrugged with his non-injured shoulder. "That knife would have torn right through your throat. So, yeah, I did." Hiei didn't respond, and Yusuke could pretty much guess why. The hiyoukai was torn between being incredibly annoyed that he hadn't even known he was under attack and being grateful (and annoyed) that Yusuke had saved his life…again.

* * *

Ayumi looked from the man in front of her, whose name was in fact Kuwabara, and to Yusuke as he and the two other boys walked into his apartment. She stood up, ignoring the protest from Kuwabara and ducking under his arm, an angry look in her eye.

"What the hell was that? Who was that guy? What was that thing he just did with that other man and who the hell are you?" she asked in one breath, nearly getting into Yusuke's face. He backed up slightly, taken back by the bomb of questions and her expression. She looked really upset. Yusuke held both his hands up in a sign of peace, but regretted the decision when he realized he had blood on his hand from where he was putting pressure on his wound. Her eyes trailed from his hand to his shoulder and she frowned, backing off slightly. "You're hurt."

"It's no big deal," he mumbled, confused by her sudden change in demeanor. She stared at him and then suddenly her face cleared, as if she wasn't so upset anymore. Tipping her head slightly to the side, she reached forward and took his wrist into her hands, leading him towards the bathroom.

"Hope you have a first aid kit in there," she said quietly, opening up the door. Yusuke allowed himself to be pulled in, still a bit confused as she released his wrist and started to open up the cabinets.

"Bottom drawer, far right."

She pulled out a white box with a red cross on it and set it on the corner of the counter, motioning for Yusuke to take a seat on the other side of the sink. Frowning, he hopped up and pulled his shirt off over his head, tossing it away. Not only did the fabric have a tear in it, but quite a bit of blood on it as well. And blood was a bitch to wash out so Yusuke usually never bothered; he'd discard the shirt later. Ayumi opened up the box and began rummaging through it, her face pulled into a look of concentration. "Don't think that I don't want answers," she suddenly said.

"You don't have to do this, you know. It will heal on its own in a little while."

"Don't change the subject," she insisted, beginning to clean the cut, concentrating on what she was doing with her hands.

Yusuke scowled at her stubbornness and thought about it, finally releasing a sigh and letting his right side lean against the wall. "The answers are kind of complicated, and right now I'm not sure if you need to know what they are."

"Are you human?" she suddenly asked, throwing Yusuke off guard a bit. She caught his confused expression and she rolled her eyes, motioning towards the wound she was cleaning. "You had a knife in your shoulder not even five minutes ago, buried almost to the hilt might I add. But this looks like it's already been healing for quite some time. You even said yourself it would heal on its own in a little while. So, are you human?"

Yusuke pursed his lips in slight amusement, turning his nose up into the air as he sniffed. "Sort of."

"Well, there's one answer," she said lightly, ignoring the fact that he narrowed his eyes at her. "Who are the others, besides Kuwabara?"

"The redhead is Kurama. Hiei is the short one with the bad attitude."

"Ah," Ayumi commented, placing a small gauze pad over the wound and beginning to tape it to Yusuke's skin. She finished up and cleaned up, placing the first aid kit back underneath the sink and she stood up straight, wrapping her arms around herself. "Can you tell me anything?"

Yusuke stood and led her from the bathroom, ignoring the other three that were now sitting in the living room and waiting expectantly as he left Ayumi there, heading into his bedroom to grab a new t-shirt. After pulling it on he crossed his arms and leaned against the wall, avoiding Ayumi's gaze.

"I can tell you that you should be careful, because that guy was after you." He finally looked at her and noticed the small amount of fear that crept into her eyes. She swallowed and shuffled her feet, suddenly feeling a little nervous.

"He's not human, is he?"

Yusuke shifted against the wall. "Doesn't seem to be."

"You don't know why?" she asked quietly.

"Not yet."

"So…so what? What should I do?" she asked then, suddenly feeling a little overwhelmed. She looked at the four boys and then shook her head, starting to pace in front of the living room. "You're sure?"

"He made it pretty clear," Yusuke said dryly.

"Right. Well, I guess I'm just going to have to call the police or something…" she announced, mostly to herself. Yusuke raised an eyebrow in her direction as Hiei scoffed, crossing his own arms and looking away from her. She turned to glare at him slightly. "What?"

"The cops? Are you serious?" he asked her, narrowing his eyes. She stared at him like he had grown two heads and then nodded.

"Some psycho wants to apparently kill me and I have no idea why. Going to the police sound rather reasonable," she explained, but Hiei shook his head.

"You're stupider than you look."

She glared at him and crossed her arms. "Good thing I could really care less what you think then, huh?" she asked, ignoring the glower forming in his eyes.

"While Hiei's tact needs some serious work, he has a point at the very least concerning the cops. It's not a good idea to try and get them involved," Kurama told her, gaining her attention. She didn't look very convinced. "You'll go down there and you'll tell them what you've seen here today. Take a guess at how they'll respond."

She thought about it, frowning at the realization. "They'll probably think I belong in a psych ward…" she trailed off, wrapping her arms around herself again. "But I can't just do nothing!"

"You can let me handle it," Yusuke told her. She looked at him with a 'yeah right' look and he shrugged.

Ayumi looked exasperated at the suggestion. "First off, I don't even know what that means. Secondly, why would you help me?"

"Apart from the fact that it's my job," he started with a bit of bitterness, throwing a knowing glare at the wall and she could only guess as to why, but she suspected it was because he knew something she did not. "You're my neighbor and I like you, and I don't want to see you get hurt by someone who belongs in my world."

Ayumi regarded him warily, thinking over his answer. "Why is it just your world?"

He scoffed at her. "Well, it might be your world to. I don't know yet. Regardless, I can protect you," he insisted. Ayumi looked at him, and then at the other three, and then sighed.

"Okay…what do I do?" she asked a little shakily. Yusuke chuckled and headed over to the door, picking up her bag and offering it to her. She grabbed it with confusion as he opened the door and leaned against the frame.

"You don't do anything."

She gaped at him and shook her head. "Nuh-uh, you're not going to keep me in the dark! Besides, what am I supposed to do? Just go home and pretend like everything is okay?" she asked heatedly. Yusuke's face didn't change and that worried her.

"That's exactly what you're going to do. You're going to let me do my job, okay?" he asked, raising an eyebrow. She tapped her foot against the ground, shaking her head a little. Yusuke sighed and placed a reassuring hand on her shoulder. "I know it's difficult, but right now, all you need to do is go home. Do your homework, watch some TV, relax, and then get some sleep. As of now, one of us will always be on the look out for you and until I know what's going on, I can't risk getting you involved further."

Ayumi thought about it, clearly not happy with it, but she huffed out a breath of air and glared slightly at Yusuke. "Only if you promise to let me know what's going on as soon as you do find out what's going on," she said, holding a finger up to him. "Deal?"

Yusuke grinned. "Deal. Now go home. I'm sure if you stay any later your grandmother is going to get worried, and she seems kind of scary and I already have to deal with one scary old lady, I don't need to deal with another." Ayumi didn't know what he meant, but from the look on his face it seemed she shouldn't press her luck and she nodded in acceptance.

"Very well. Guess I'll see you guys around," she said, turning her head to look at the other three. Kurama and Kuwabara both waved their goodbyes while Hiei looked like he didn't want to be there and ignored her completely. Yusuke wasn't kidding about the bad attitude. Ayumi stepped out of the apartment and turned to face Yusuke, a smile on her face. She tipped her head forward and said, "Goodnight Yusuke."

"Goodnight," he repeated, watching as she turned and went inside her own apartment. He closed the door and sighed, turning to face the other three. His expression quickly soured as he marched back to his bedroom, returning to the living room with a large silver briefcase. Sitting cross-legged on the floor he opened it and pressed a large button until the screen lit up, showing an odd looking toddler on the screen. The other three joined in behind him, wondering what Koenma would say on the matter.

"Yusuke? Have you found anything out on your new case?" he asked, light brown eyes wide and hopeful. Yusuke bit back his usual remark and leaned forward with narrowed eyes.

"Interestingly enough, I did."

Koenma blinked a few times and appeared happy at the news, waiting for him to continue. When he didn't, he titled his head to the side in confusion. "Well?"

Yusuke growled a little. "Binky-Breath, you and I need to have a chat."


	3. Warnings

**Author's Note:** Hello! Here's the third installment for WTSGD. I hope you guys like it. Thanks to those who have reviewed so far. I really appreciate it and I love hearing from you guys. (:

Please be kind and leave a review, even if you don't like it.

**Disclaimer: **If you recognize it, I don't own it.

* * *

**When The Sun Goes Down**

_Chapter Three_

Koenma, the man responsible for overseeing and judging the dead, thumbed through a large book with a heavy frown on his face. Despite all of the paperwork that was no doubt gathering up in his office, he insisted on heading into records instead. In the quiet of the massive room that wasn't much different than a library, the Lord of Death began to suck heavily on the blue pacifier in his mouth, unconsciously trying to quell the horrible feeling that had settled in the pit of his stomach. He heard the entrance door opening and closing, but didn't bother turning to face his visitors; he already knew who was there. Instead, his eyes were focusing intently on the book in front of him, and as he turned yet another page his visitors approached the table he was currently sitting at.

One of his assistants, this particular one being in charge of the River Styx and ferrying the departed souls to the Spirit World, came up to him and bowed. "Koenma, sir."

His eyes flickered to the blue hair, lavender eyes, and pink kimono in recognition. "Botan."

"Yusuke, Kurama, and Hiei are here to see you," she said quietly, motioning to the three boys behind her. Koenma turned towards the three and motioned for them to sit down, which they did.

"Thank you Botan. You may stay if you wish." Botan smiled at this and took a seat as well, clasping her fingers together and waiting in silence. "You said it was like darkness?" Koenma suddenly asked, looking up at Yusuke briefly before returning to the book. Yusuke crossed his arms and leaned back in his seat.

"Yeah. Like a moving shadow." Koenma turned another page and began to scan the contents on the withered page. "I brought the knife he stabbed me with as well." Koenma looked up sharply at this as Yusuke turned his head to look at Hiei. He reached into his coat and retrieved a curved knife with a large handle that held an intricate design as well as a pictograph in the center of it. There were words in some language that not even Kurama could recognize, but Koenma's mouth fell open at the site of it. The hiyoukai held it out and Koenma grabbed it immediately, pulling it close to him to inspect it.

"Well?" Yusuke asked, becoming impatient. If Koenma heard him, he didn't show it. Instead, he turned the knife over in his hands and inspected the other side, moving his head back and forth every now and then.

"Moving shadow…" he whispered, eyebrows furrowing in concentration. He suddenly stood and left the confused group, rushing over towards a large bookcase and scanning the books, coming to the one he wanted and yanking it down with two hands. This book was even bigger than the one he already had, and twice as old, but he lugged it to the table and nearly threw it down and ignored the dust that went flying in every direction. He opened it, quickly flipping through the pages.

"Koenma?" Yusuke asked, blinking in confusion. Koenma waved a hand in his direction, ignoring him. "Hey! I'm taking to you!"

"Yusuke, I understand that you're still a teenager and that makes you incredibly impatient. But right now, I need you to pretend like you're not a child and _shut up_," Koenma replied harshly, never taking his eyes off of the book. Yusuke glared at his 'boss' but didn't respond, pursing his lips in annoyance instead. Kurama and Hiei exchanged glances, apparently having some sort of non-verbal conversation with one another while Botan inspected the knife that Koenma had nearly dropped.

"Koenma…these markings…" she said quietly, running her fingers over the symbols carved into the handle.

"I know," he said tersely, grunting in frustration before flipping to another section of the book.

"But…it's been at least five hundred years!" she exclaimed, looking at the prince.

"Five hundred and sixteen," Koenma corrected. He finally found the page he was looking for, which held a picture of the exact knife Botan was holding with some text written underneath it. "Moving shadow over light…the blood of the moon and sun…" Koenma mumbled as he read the last of the text, sitting back in his chair and thinking.

"A prophecy?" Botan asked, but Koenma shook his head.

"No. A warning." He looked from Botan to Yusuke, Hiei, and Kurama and frowned. "I can't tell you a thing about Daisuke or what his connection is with Demetri. But Demetri himself is a reincarnation of the moon in physical form, with the potential to unlock the powers of the moon, becoming essentially a God." All three couldn't hide the shock from their face, but Kurama recovered first.

"How is such a thing possible?" he asked, leaning forward.

"You have to understand, the world is a hard enough place to understand as it is. But the _universe_," Koenma started, shaking his head. "There are things we will never understand, and I have a feeling this is one of them. What I do know is that…somehow…for whatever reason…a reincarnate was born in physical form on this Earth from both the moon and the sun about five hundred years ago. I was barely two hundred years old then…" he trailed off, tapping his foot against the floor in concentration.

"Okay, so several hundred years later and Demetri is born, and I suppose Daisuke?" Yusuke asked, raising an eyebrow. Koenma shook his head.

"No, not Daisuke. As I said, I'm not sure who he is or what his connection to Demetri is, but I'm assuming he's there to help him for whatever reason. You said he's the one who could freeze time, Kurama?" Kurama nodded in response, motioning towards the knife.

"So what's the purpose of that, then?"

"The knife itself is just a ceremonial tool, I only recognized it because the language dates back to five hundred years ago. But it's apart of this warning. No matter, I'm not concerned with the knife at the moment. What I am concerned with is-" he started, Yusuke cutting him off.

"Ayumi." Koenma nodded, tapping his fingers on the table.

"It's not a coincidence that five hundred and _sixteen_ years ago this all started and Ayumi is sixteen years old. That means he waited for his chance rather than going after her as soon as she was born. But it doesn't make sense. The timeline is all out of whack. If Ayumi is who I think she is, then her and Demetri were supposed to be born at the same time, as ancestral siblings."

"Supposed to be? Who do you think she is?" Yusuke asked. Kurama answered instead of Koenma.

"The reincarnate of the sun."

Hiei scoffed and looked at Kurama out of the corner of his eyes. "That's unlikely. I dug around for some time and I didn't find anything."

"That could just mean it's locked up in there pretty tight. What's the other option? If Demetri is the reincarnate of the Moon God and his object is the sun, why else would he be going after Ayumi?" Kurama asked, turning back to Koenma. "Why is his object, and apparent intent, to harm her anyways?"

Koenma let out a huge sigh and shook his head, eventually shrugging his shoulders. "Only he would know. There are so many legends and myths about the sun and the moon that it's difficult to decide which is false and which has any truth to it." He thought about it for a moment and then stood up, closing the two books. "Alright, this is obviously your official new case, Yusuke. As well as top priority. Kuwabara isn't a Spirit Detective but I'm going to assume he'll want to join in, so you'll have to inform him of everything we've discussed once you've returned to the living world. Where is he, by the way?"

"Left him at my place to watch over Ayumi," Yusuke explained, standing up as well as Hiei and Kurama. "Besides, he hasn't quite got the hang of Astral Projection yet."

"Very well. As for you two, your service is not mandatory at this point. Both of your slates have been wiped clean as promised," Koenma said to the two demons. Kurama tilted his head to the side and offered a polite smile.

"Your point is noted, but I'd like to stay on this case if you don't mind." Koenma nodded in response and then everybody looked at Hiei, who shoved his hands into his pockets and refused to look at anyone. "Come now, Hiei. You can't say you aren't interested in this one." Hiei thought in silence for a few minutes before looking to Yusuke rather than anyone else.

"I will stay under the condition that I will not be forced to babysit that pathetic ningen girl. You guys may think she's some powerful reincarnate, but I remain doubtful. You, the fox, and the oaf can look after the girl. All I'm interested in is Daisuke and especially Demetri," he told him, narrowing his eyes at the ghost of a smile that formed on Yusuke's face. "And don't look at me like that. Demetri did try to kill me, and he will pay dearly for that." Hiei walked ahead of them, not bothering to wait for them to follow.

"That guy always has to make _everything _difficult," Yusuke started, a sour expression on his face. Kurama only smiled and clasped his hands behind his back, pleased with the idea that the four of them would be working together once more. "So what are you going to do then?" Yusuke asked, turning to Koenma.

"Botan and I will be researching. Hiei does make a point; if Ayumi really is the reincarnate of the sun, there should be something to find, and she should be showing some sort of power." He turned to face Botan then and thought about something for a moment. Snapping his fingers he said, "Botan, I want you to find out everything you can about her parents, as it stands she's currently living with just her grandmother. Her mother died when she was just a baby and her father was never around."

"Of course. I'll see what I can find, sir. What will you be doing?" she asked, tipping her head to the side and gazing at her boss.

The Reikai ruler offered a small smile as he clasped his hands behind his back, turning to walk steadily out of the room. "I will be digging around through legends, myths, and folktales. If there is any true connection between the sun and the moon, I'll find it."

* * *

Ayumi finished the last of her homework and closed her textbook, letting out a sigh. Sitting cross-legged on her bed with her school things spread out all around her, she had actually managed to forget about what happened today after engrossing herself in all the work she had. Now that she was finished, she wasn't quite sure what to think. Quite frankly, it seemed incredibly crazy and bizarre and the more she thought about it, the more she felt like there was some misunderstanding.

As she gathered up her school stuff and began organizing everything, her grandmother knocked and opened her bedroom door. "Just wanted to check in on you. You were quiet at dinner."

Ayumi looked away from her grandma and finished packing away her things, setting her bag on the plush blue chair in the corner of her room. "Was I? I didn't notice. Been thinking about school and all the homework I have already." Ayumi had never really lied to her grandmother before. She didn't like it.

"Well I'm glad you're taking it so seriously," her grandmother said, a little surprised. Ayumi was usually a 'just above' average student. She was good, but not great. She was determined to do better for high school, and wished that she could find solace in her grandma's praise. But she had only done her homework to keep her mind busy from what happened today, not because she was looking for a good grade.

"I have to grow up eventually," Ayumi started, laughing slightly and facing her grandmother. "I can't be ichi-hiki forever." Her grandma smiled at the nickname and tipped her head slightly.

"I suppose you can't. But you'll always be one to me. Goodnight, ichi-hiki." Ayumi smiled warmly as her grandmother left, and unfortunately, the smile fell from Ayumi's face. Rubbing her hands over her face, she let out a sigh and fell back onto her bed. After staring at her ceiling for a while, she fumbled for the remote on the dresser attached to the left side of her bed frame and turned the television on.

* * *

The next morning Ayumi said goodbye to her grandmother, closing and locking her apartment door behind her. Suddenly feeling like she was being watched, she turned to check her surroundings. Upon realizing that she was by herself, she closed her eyes and released a frustrated sigh. She was turning into some paranoid psycho because of all this…whatever the hell 'this' was. Pulling her bag tighter onto her shoulder, Ayumi left the apartment building and headed for school. When she came to the corner, however, she saw one of the guys that was with Yusuke. If her memory served her correctly, his name was Kurama. An odd name for a human, really.

"Hello. Our schools are in the same direction, so I thought I'd walk you," he announced once when she reached him. He seemed friendly enough, with kind eyes that were the brightest shade of emerald she had ever seen. Coupled with the pressed uniform and luxurious red hair, he didn't seem like he could harm a fly.

She finally smiled and nodded. "So I guess that means you're on watch this morning."

He offered a friendly smile and tipped his head to the side. "Well, I figured I'd be the best choice to watch over you in the morning. As I said, our schools are in the same direction. I haven't formerly introduced myself, by the way. My name is Kurama," he started, a small frown suddenly forming on his face. "However, if we are around other humans, I would greatly appreciate it if you called me Shuichi."

Ayumi couldn't help but crack a bit of a smile. "Shuichi sounds a lot more human than Kurama does."

"I'm glad you think so."

"Well, I'm Ayumi. It's a pleasure. I've got to say, I don't often meet other redheads. It's a little odd."

Kurama smiled and looked up towards the sky, a knowing look in his eye. She wondered how much of that she would be receiving from this little group that she had somehow gotten tangled up with.

"I don't often meet other redheads, either," Kurama finally told her.

"Well, my hair is red because of my father. He's Irish."

"Oh, so you're only half Japanese then."

Ayumi chuckled and put her hands in her pockets. "Yeah. What's your excuse?"

Kurama bit back an amused smile and answered, "Well, my hair is red because of my youki. But that's a discussion for another time." Ayumi bit back a wry smile and shook her head, thinking about something else.

"Alright, so if you're not going to give me any straight answers about your non-human status, how about an easier question? How well do you know Yusuke?" she asked, raising an eyebrow in Kurama's direction.

If Kurama was thrown off by the question, he didn't show it. Something told Ayumi that this particular person was very good at keeping his emotions under control. "I'd like to think that I know him very well, and yet every time I'm certain I've learned all there is to know, he does something crazy and completely throws me off course. Although, when he does something crazy, it's always in a very _Yusuke-esque _fashion. So I suppose I can say that I know him very well, but there is always something new to learn."

"How poetic," Ayumi teased, earning a smile from her companion. "You speak highly of him…I guess maybe I'm just wondering if he's for real or not. I mean, I guess my life is pretty much in his hands, and he's only my neighbor. I've only known him a few years, and even then I've only had a few conversations with him and run ins. I don't really _know_ him at all except for that his name is Yusuke Urameshi, he moved into that building because his old apartment was set on fire, and his mother isn't exactly 'mother' material- although Atsuko is still a good woman." She sighed and turned onto the street that her school was located on. "Hell, the only personal thing I know about him is that he's in love with his best friend but he's too stubborn and shy to do anything about it."

Kurama did seem a little surprised at the last part, and couldn't help but say something with the ghost of a smile on his face. "Well, that's more than a little personal. You were able to tell that about him by, I'm assuming, just by looking at him?"

Ayumi shrugged. "He tries to hide it, but he might as well be wearing a neon sign," she admitted, unable to stop the laughter from her mouth. "But anyone who pays attention can see that kind of thing. The way he greets her, the way he says goodbye to her, the way he looks at her. It's the same for her, too. So while it may seem like a personal thing to know, to me it was just something he was indirectly shouting out loud. If that makes sense."

"I think it does," Kurama murmured quietly. They reached the front of Ayumi's school and she stopped, turning to face Kurama.

"Thank you for walking me. I appreciate it." Her friend Satsu noticed her from the courtyard and rushed over, stopping short when she noticed her companion. "Good morning, Satsu."

Satsu blinked a few times, cheeks turning red at the sight of Kurama before tearing her eyes away and looking at Ayumi. "M-morning," she stammered. "Who's your friend?"

"Oh, this is Shuichi," Ayumi introduced, smirking in Kurama's direction. He turned his attention to Satsu and offered a polite smile. "Shuichi, this is my friend Satsu."

"It's a pleasure," he said warmly with an air that screamed 'I'm a gentlemen'. "Well, I should be going. I don't want to be late. I'll see you around, Ayumi." He bowed to both girls, who returned the gesture (Satsu's bow wound up being a bit deeper than Ayumi's, for obvious reasons). Once the redhead waved and walked off, Satsu gripped Ayumi's hand and nearly dragged her into the courtyard.

"Oh, you are so going to tell me about him! He's so…he's so…handsome!" Satsu gushed, placing her hands on her cheeks, which were slowly turning red. "And those eyes…"

Ayumi had to stop herself from rolling _her_ eyes. "He's a friend of my neighbor. I've seen him hanging around once or twice, and we just bumped into each other on the way to school." Ayumi didn't like lying to Satsu either, but she didn't say anything else on the matter as Satsu continued to fawn over him. She listened with a practiced ear, responding with some 'Mmms' and an 'is that so?' Her mind, however, was miles away from Satsu and her newfound crush.

For one thing, she still felt like someone was watching her, and it was really starting to creep her out.


	4. Corpse Walker

**Author's Note:** Hello everyone! Here's the fourth installment. I hope those of you who enjoy it continue to enjoy it. I wanna thank **Annmarie** and **SakiHamajima1** for reviewing so far! I appreciate it guy. :3

Oh, to answer you Saki, you don't have to worry about things moving too fast as far as the romance goes. Hell, I've written up to chapter ten and the two have barely said two words to each other. I'm hell bent on taking their romance slow. xD. So I hope that quells any fear for a fast and not plausible romance. Thank you for reviewing!

**Disclaimer: **If you recognize it, I don't own it.

* * *

**When The Sun Goes Down**

_Chapter Four_

Ayumi placed her key in the lock of her apartment and let herself in, taking a look around the living room. Taking her shoes off and putting her slippers on, she shuffled around the quiet apartment, looking for her grandmother. Frowning, she noticed a note attached the fridge and she approached it, taking the note into her hand.

'_I've gone shopping ichi-hiki. It's come to my attention that we've run out of food. I'll be back around dinner time.'_

Rolling her eyes, Ayumi threw the note away and leaned against the kitchen counter. She was fairly certain she was just being paranoid, but for some reason the apartment just felt _off_. Maybe it was because she was by herself and it was just so quiet. It only took her a moment to make a decision and she quickly scribbled a note back for her grandmother, and hardly a minute later she was knocking on Yusuke's door. It opened and Yusuke stared at her, a little surprised.

"My grandmother isn't home and I don't feel safe in my apartment by myself anymore," she said quickly, ducking her head a little in apology and a bit of embarrassment.

She heard Yusuke chuckle a little. "Well, nobody's gotten anywhere near the apartment building. Not with all the spirit energy my friends and I are giving off," he explained, opening up the door a little and allowing Ayumi to follow him inside.

"Spirit Energy?" she asked, eyes wide as he laced his fingers together and placed them behind his head.

"Yeah. It's kind of like a 'beware of dogs' sign to anybody who isn't human, and we're the really big dogs." He turned and headed into his kitchen, leaving Ayumi in the living room. "Want anything?" he called.

"I'd love some orange juice if you have it." He didn't respond so she assumed he was preparing their drinks. "So, what exactly is spirit energy? I mean, is it only for non-human people?"

Yusuke came back into the living room holding a glass of soda and a glass of orange juice, which he handed to Ayumi. She thanked him and took a sip, taking a seat on the couch. Yusuke downed half the glass in one go and placed it on the table, looking at Ayumi out of the corner of his eye. "No. Every living thing has spirit energy inside of it. Some humans have the ability to call out their spirit energy and use it as a weapon, like Kuwabara. But most don't realize that they have it, and never do."

Ayumi raised an eyebrow at this, surprised. "Oh really? So even I have it? And my grandmother?" Yusuke nodded. "So what can Kuwabara do then?"

"He can make his spirit energy take the physical form of a sword."

"And you?"

Yusuke frowned at that and crossed his arms. "I'm a little more complicated than most. As far as the human side of me goes, I can use my spirit energy like somebody would use a gun." He leaned forward a bit and made an 'L' shape with his hand. Ayumi watched, transfixed, as a soft humming noise seem to come from Yusuke's hand before a brilliant blue energy ball gathered at the tip of his pointer finger. The light disappeared and Yusuke let his hand drop. "You're taking this rather well, or at least you're taking the things you do know rather well. About demons and…non-humans."

Ayumi tilted her head to the side and shrugged. "My family has always believed in things like spirits and ghosts. Demons aren't really that far off for me, although I didn't expect them to look so…human," she started, pausing with a soft chuckle, aware of the irony in her words. "Not that I was ever expecting to run into any of those things in my life," she admitted, looking down at the clasped hands in her lap.

"Well, just as there are different types of humans, there are also different types of demons. Some do look completely human, like Kurama. Some look humanoid, which can be anything like Hiei, who looks almost completely human with the exception of his eye color and his Jagan eye, to something that just barely seems humanoid. And then there are demons that aren't humanoid at all. Just depends," Yusuke explained with a shrug. "Nothing you should really concern yourself with at the moment anyways."

Ayumi smiled a little at this, amused at his choice of words. "So what _should _I be concerning myself with at the moment?" Yusuke smirked at her.

"Well, if you don't finish your juice it's not going to be cold anymore."

Ayumi nearly deadpanned at this. "My juice? That's a very 'living in the moment' response."

"I'm a very 'live in the moment' type of guy," he defended, shrugging his shoulders. Taking a good look at Yusuke, she could clearly see that's exactly the type of guy he was. Ayumi didn't know how somebody could be like that. There were very few times when Ayumi has ever 'lived in the moment' and it usually backfired on her. Tilting her head to the side, she picked up her glass anyways and drank the rest of its contents.

* * *

The air in Makai always smelled of death and blood, the smell of home to most inhabitants of this world. The thick odor was comforting, and even soothing to those who have been away. In a particular village, a lone demon stood in the center of a nearly abandoned village, breathing in the thick air as if he was breathing for the first time. Though not a particularly good-looking demon, or even particularly smart one for that matter, he seemed to be breathing in the air with a specific purpose in mind. Squinted eyes turned from the sky to the one building still running in this village, and his thick figure moved one foot in front of the other with slow, but determined, precision.

The building this demon managed to walk into was filthy, disgusting, and the only place in the village to get anything that resembled a drink. Normally full of demons, the place was completely empty save for the bartender, a rather tall and gangly looking rabbit demon. His hand was already on a weapon and suspicious eyes were trained on the intruder.

"Purpose?" the bartender asked, his hand never leaving the weapon hidden at his side. The larger demon made his way to the counter top and leaned heavily against it.

"Drink," he said plainly, glazed eyes staring hard at the bartender. The taller demon looked uneasy and debated on if he should comply or not. "Drink!" With a sigh he released the weapon and poured the demon a drink, sliding him a glass filled with a murky colored liquid.

"I must say, you're pretty brave to be wondering around here at this time of night," the bartender started, grateful for some company, even if it was from this apparent lug head. From the looks of it, the demon that was now drinking from his glass looked pretty inebriated already. But far be it from the bartender to tell anybody when they've had enough.

"Why?" Surprised by the sudden question, the bartender leaned forward a bit and tilted his head to the side, the rabbit-like ear on top of his head flopping over.

"You don't know?" he asked, earning no response from his larger companion. "There's a man who can raise the dead," the bartender started to explain, lowering his voice as if someone else could hear them. "Don't know how, but he makes them do his bidding. Hard to kill what's already dead, you know? Some say he's leading some sort of revolt, but I think he's just working for someone else." This apparently caught the large demon's interest as he slammed his now empty glass down onto the table.

"Who? And drink!" he called. The bartender refilled the glass.

"Don't really know whom," he started, tracing the grooves that had been worked into the counter top over the years. "Some say he's more of a what. All I know is that they call him Chi no Tsuki."

The large demon finished off his glass and slammed it onto the counter top again, thinking over the bartender's words. "Who raises the dead?"

The bartender frowned at this. "You some kind of bounty hunter?"

"Name!" the large demon shouted. The bartender sighed and shook his head.

"Aruku-shitai, I believe his name is."

The large demon abruptly stood and turned to leave, causing the bartender to take a startled step backwards. He stumbled back out and breathed deeply again, the glaze slowly leaving his eyes. A moment later a clear-eyed demon blinked the confusion out of his eyes, looking back and forth. He took in his surroundings with narrowed eyes, an uncomfortable feeling in the pit of his stomach. "Where the hell am I?" he asked himself quietly.

Miles away from the large demon, another stood completely still on top of a large tree branch. His Jagan eye closed shut before he placed a white bandana over it, quickly knotting it at the back of his head. With an irritated sigh, crimson eyes opened up to take in the view in front of them. How unfortunate it was that the only demon available for Hiei's hypnosis was a complete waste. Well, perhaps not a complete waste, as Hiei did gain two names out of the process. One of them he was fairly certain belonged to Demetri. Of course in Makai he was apparently known as 'Blood Moon' instead.

As for the second name, Hiei wasn't sure if he should even believe such a demon could exist. Necromancers were from an ancient past and were said to be extinct, and Hiei wasn't about to open up a door to the past when he should be looking elsewhere. Even still, the name rung in his ears and he couldn't quiet the sound. Aruku-shitai… _corpse walker_.

"Nonsense," the hiyoukai announced to himself. Hiei turned to leave just as the wind suddenly changed direction, and a foul smell assaulted Hiei's nose and stopped him in his tracks. His eyes widened as he turned towards the North, the smell washing over him again and almost making him gag. If the air in the Makai smelled of death and blood, this smell was a thousand times worse. It smelled _rotten_. "What the…" His attention was caught then at the ground rather than the horizon, and his eyes widened at the sight. There were at least a hundred _things_ walking towards him, and the hair at the nape of Hiei's neck stood up.

Why the hell couldn't he sense them coming!? He stared at several of the walking figures, noticing the strange way they moved and the strange way they looked. His blood seemed to run cold as he realized he couldn't sense them because there was nothing _to_ sense. They were corpses. He wasn't sure if they were sent to kill him or if they were just passing through, but one thing was for certain: you couldn't kill what was already dead. Deciding he had stayed long enough, Hiei turned and attempted to take off towards the barrier.

Before Hiei could take off of the tree he was in, there was a flurry of movement to his right and Hiei was knocked off of the tree. Fortunately, he was able to perform a back flip that allowed him to land on his feet. Unfortunately, he had landed in front of the aforementioned army of corpses. Close up, the corpses were even more disgusting to look at. Though they all varied in particular species, they all had decaying skin that looked gray. Their eye sockets were all empty and between the bones that were showing through in various places and the bugs that were hovering in close range to each corpse, Hiei was about ready to retch.

They noticed him and Hiei took off, not in the position to take on an army of corpses by himself. The small army noticed his movement and several of them took off after him, all of which were incredibly fast. Looking over his shoulder and seeing that he was being gained on, he cursed and sped up. This was why Necromancers were so damn hard to kill. Not only was it difficult to kill something that was already dead, but also the individual corpses retained the powers of their respective species, making the army as a whole incredibly versatile.

One of them caught up to Hiei and reached for him, who ducked and pulled his katana out. Metal flashed in the night and went completely through the corpse, slowing it down. Unfortunately, it's severed middle began to fuse together once more. Hiei kept running, not wanting to lose his momentum. Four of them caught up to him and were running along side him, and he narrowed his eyes. The two closest to him dived in and he jumped, their heads crashing into one another. Landing behind them, he prepared to fight before he caught wind of something from the East. He turned slightly and breathed in, smelling something awfully familiar. Realizing what it was, he skidded to a complete stop before turning and running towards it, slightly throwing the corpses off. They weren't thrown off for long and eventually they were all gaining on him again.

Cursing, he sped up to his maximum speed, racing across Makai as a black blur that was nearly undetectable. Two of them caught up to him again, and before Hiei could dodge, the corpse morphed his hand into a dagger and plunged it into Hiei's shoulder blade. Grunting in pain and rolling forward, he gripped his sword as the second one came at him. He slashed him completely in half and twirled the katana in his hands so the blade was facing backwards, and he stabbed it through the others neck. The other two caught up and Hiei took off at a run again, heading directly towards a thick forest of blue leafless trees.

He reached the edge of the forest just as the four caught up to him again and a massive plant suddenly burst from the ground, with four towering stalks and at the end was a bulbous flower head. One of them opened its mouth and headed straight for Hiei, covering him completely within the petals. It lifted itself back up into the air, Hiei still trapped within, and the plant came to a still as the four corpses stopped their pursuit, staring at the plant with disinterest. Now that they no longer had a target to chase, they were nothing more than still corpses. Their eye sockets began to glow a dull gray color and they turned, running back towards the rest of them as if someone was suddenly commanding them.

The plant waited until the corpses were completely gone before one of them started to shake its head back and forth, almost as if it was experiencing some sort of discomfort. A second later and the plant made a spitting noise as it released Hiei, the demon grunting in pain as his back hit the ground. With a wince he stood, feeling a little gross now that he was covered in plant saliva. He turned towards the forest with a small frown.

"Under normal circumstances, I'd be incredibly annoyed at you," he announced casually. A small chuckle came from within the shadows at the base of the forest.

"And under these circumstances?" the voice asked teasingly.

Scowling, Hiei tore his coat off and used the inside of it (which was free of saliva) to being wiping himself off. "Under these circumstances, I suppose I should be grateful that one didn't have any teeth." Another chuckle as a familiar redhead showed himself from the shadows, a small smile on his face as he recalled the large plant, magenta light covering it entirely before it slowly formed back into a large seed that Kurama pocketed.

"You're welcome," he told Hiei, placing his hands into his pockets. He quickly frowned as he looked out over the horizon where he knew the groups of corpses were. "Their stench is nauseating." Hiei nodded in agreement as his stomach finally had enough and he turned away from Kurama, bending over and emptying the contents of his stomach. When he was finished, he spit onto the ground with a disgusted look on his face.

"You're telling me," he muttered darkly. Kurama was at his side then, a concerned look on his face as he regarded Hiei. Apart from looking ill and the wound on his back, he seemed okay. But there was something in his eyes that was bothering Kurama. Hiei caught his friend's stare and shrugged him off, standing up straight again.

"What is it?" Kurama asked.

"Nothing."

"Hiei…"

"I said it was nothing." There was a tense silence between the two of them before Hiei turned and began to head back towards the barrier, Kurama following him after a moment. "I think that Necromancer is working for Demetri," Hiei finally said, hoping Kurama would take the change in subject. Fortunately Kurama did, and for that Hiei was grateful.

"I can't believe there's a Necromancer that's still alive. The last one I ever encountered was when…well, when I was around your age," he said with a short laugh. "There was never that many around to begin with. I wonder where in the world Demetri found this one."

"His name is Aruku-shitai."

Kurama grimaced. "Walking corpse. How befitting."

"I can't believe all of this is for that pathetic human girl," Hiei suddenly said, sounding incredibly annoyed.

"Forever the misanthrope," Kurama mumbled with amusement, ignoring Hiei's glare. "Besides, we don't know if Ayumi is Demetri's only aim. I doubt it is." The two walked in silence after that, and eventually Kurama stopped and looked up at the sky. "We should get moving. If there is a Necromancer roaming about, it's not safe."

"When has Makai ever been safe?"

"Let's just get going." The two sped up and began to run at Kurama's full speed, Hiei matching his pace so as not to leave him behind. "I remember when there was enough room in the Makai for all demons," Kurama said after a while, sounding almost nostalgic. Hiei nodded in agreement.

"It's getting awfully crowded," the hiyoukai muttered with annoyance.

* * *

"Obaachan, could you tell me about my mother?" Ayumi asked, catching her grandmother by surprise. The old woman regarded her granddaughter with wary eyes and wondered why she'd be asking these questions, and why all of the sudden. Ayumi could see the question in her eyes and she looked down at her lap, fidgeting a little. "You never talk about her. I just want to know."

The old woman's eyes softened a little as she suddenly finished off the rest of her dinner. "What do you want to know?" Ayumi adjusted herself on the large pillow she was sitting on, moving from seiza pose to the more casual pose, her legs starting to hurt from having them tucked under her like that.

"What was she like?" she asked, thinking that was the easier question.

"Headstrong, and perhaps even a little foolish. But…her heart was always in the right place," her grandmother started. "She was always so ready to believe in anything, so ready to go off on her own adventure. If she had gotten her way she would have wandered off and would have never come back, and she certainly tried. She was…a dreamer who always had her head in the clouds."

Ayumi thought about this, her eyebrows furrowing. "Am I like her at all?"

Her grandmother laughed a little at this. "I'd like to think so, ichi-hiki. Though I am glad your head is more so on your shoulders than up in the clouds," she said, lightening up the mood a bit. Ayumi smiled at this as her grandma finished her dinner and Ayumi stood, beginning to clear everything up. She carried the dishes from the tatami mat they ate on and into the tiled kitchen and set them in the sink. "Would you mind cleaning up tonight? I'm feeling a little tired."

Ayumi blinked and turned to face her grandma, concern clearly written on her face. "Are you okay obaachan?" She nodded in response and waved Ayumi off.

"Yes, yes. Just tired. I'm not as young as I used to be, you know," she said with a laugh. "When you're done, make sure you get some sleep as well. It won't do to have you missing any school." Ayumi smiled and watched as she left and went into her bedroom, and for a while Ayumi just stood there, staring at nothing in particular. Her head may have been on her shoulders, but her thoughts were a million miles away, perhaps even up in the clouds.

Ayumi turned to the dishes as the sun disappeared over the horizon.


	5. Attack of the Zombies

**Author's Note:** Hello everyone! I hope you guys are enjoying it. Huge thanks to those who have reviewed so far, I really appreciate it. Reviews make me so happy and make me want to update faster. :D

By the way, if you guys are interested in a really good YYH project, I urge you to check out Mayushii's Saisei Project! It's pretty fantastic.

**Disclaimer: **If you recognize it, I don't own it.

* * *

**When The Sun Goes Down**

_Chapter Five_

A slender finger pressed a small button attached to the wall panel. "Botan here, I've got the information Koenma requested," she said gingerly, releasing the button and waiting. Normally Botan would amuse herself by looking at the spirit world around her, but as it was, she had way too much on her mind. The door opened and Botan walked inside with determination in her lavender eyes. Opening the sliding door she was greeted by a flurry of ogres running to and from their stations, the entire floor seemingly packed. But it was the office at the end of the room that Botan needed to get to.

She managed to make it to the other side in one piece, though she was forced to fix her now disheveled blue hair before knocking on Koenma's door. Eventually, the red doors slid open to reveal Koenma himself sitting at his desk with a pile of papers littering the floor. Blinking in confusion, the ferry girl entered the room and took a look at the mess. Koenma didn't seem to notice it, and was instead staring intently at the single file in front of him.

Tilting her head to the side, she called out to him in a soft voice. "Koenma, sir?"

"It's slowly starting to come together. However," Koenma started, tearing his eyes away from the file and leaning back in his seat. Botan noticed he looked pretty exhausted and wondered when the last time he slept was. "There are still so many things we don't know."

"I have the information you requested."

Koenma's eyes brightened a little. "Her parents? What did you find out?"

Botan stepped up to the desk, stepping around papers that were in her way, and opened the file she was carrying. "Yurei Sarumara, deceased. She was killed in a car accident when Ayumi was just a baby. Her father's name is Conner O'Shea, currently living in Ireland. I don't believe he knows he even has a daughter. I checked his background as far back as his great-great-grandfather and there was nothing out of the ordinary," she explained.

"And the mother?"

"That's where the discrepancy in the timeline comes from, sir. The Sarumara line holds the dormant gene that gives birth to the reincarnate, but it skips a generation each time. The problem is that, for some reason, Ayumi's grandmother wasn't born as the reincarnate. Her mother was born with it, however, the gene laid dormant her whole life." Botan closed her file and looked at Koenma, noticing how deeply he seemed to be concentrating on the subject. "It's almost as if the gene decided to skip two generations and then not skip any at all this time."

Something apparently occurred to him then because his eyes widened and he looked straight at the ferry girl. "You don't think we're dealing with another atavism, do you?" Botan immediately shook her head though, earning a sigh from the prince.

"It's highly unlikely, and if it is an atavism, it's not like any atavism that's ever been recorded."

Koenma ran his hands over his face, yawning loudly into them. "Well, that's a relief. What about the accident? Did it seem normal?"

Botan frowned at this and looked to the floor. "Honestly, Koenma…I'm not sure. If there had been any bad weather involved, or…if she was somehow under the influence then I could understand but…" she trailed off, Koenma raising an eyebrow at her.

"But?" Koenma urged after Botan didn't speak again.

"But it's like she was just driving when all the sudden she decided to make a sharp right, through the barrier and over the mountain side," Botan finished sadly. Koenma frowned and drummed his fingers against his desk, sucking at the pacifier in his mouth with a sudden ferocity.

"Suicide?" he asked then, but Botan shook her head again.

"Highly unlikely. Her life was looking up, sir. She just had a baby, she found a new job that she was just about to start, and…they found a 'to-do list' in her car," Botan started, letting out a sad sigh. "A suicidal person wouldn't write a to-do list for the following day." The pair was silent and contemplative before Koenma shook his head and leaned back into his chair again.

"I'll have to find her record, then. She came here when she died just like every other soul does, I just can't seem to remember," Koenma told her, sounding incredibly frustrated with himself. Botan frowned and placed her hand over her heart, tipping her head to the side.

"You've been doing this for over seven hundred years. How could you possibly remember every face and every name?" Koenma didn't answer, but he didn't look at her either. Botan let out a sigh and placed the file on his desk. "There's something else. Ayumi was in the car with her mother when it went over the cliff side. They don't know how she survived…" Botan said, trailing off. Koenma stared at her with wide eyes and eventually shook his head.

"Just what in the hell happened that day?" he asked, his eyebrows furrowing. He looked exhausted.

"When was the last time you slept?" she suddenly asked, finally getting him to gaze at her, albeit with curiosity in his eyes.

"What?" he asked, dumbfounded.

"When was the last time you slept?" she repeated.

Koenma titled his head to the side, thinking about it. Eventually he just shrugged. "I'll sleep when I'm dead," he told her. Botan managed to glare at him.

"That's not funny, sir. Come on, you need to sleep," she told him, coming around the side of the desk and sliding his chair back. Koenma gaped at her as she tugged at his hand, but eventually controlled himself and pulled his hand back.

"Botan, I have a lot of work to do. A lot of which I've already neglected because of this new case," he told her, sounding rather irritated. She pursed her lips at him and grabbed his hand once more. She was aware that she was quickly crossing the line between employee and employer, but she didn't really care. His health was more important than her job, after all.

"Sir, if you don't come with me and get to bed this instant I'm going to tell your father that you're still using Yusuke as a Spirit Detective," Botan said evenly. Koenma's eyes widened and he openly gaped at her once more, his pacifier nearly falling out of his mouth.

"Botan! You can't do that! Do you know what he'll do to me? I'll get at least one thousand spankings! Not to mention he'll probably kill me!"

"Hmm, well it looks like it's a pretty easy choice then, isn't it?"

"You'll get spankings to, you know!" Koenma cried, opting for a different tactic. Botan only smiled and tugged at his hand again.

"I'm aware of that. Now, come on. You're cranky, and how can you expect to get any real work done when you're so exhausted?" she asked him.

Koenma glared at her and finally groaned, allowing himself to be pulled out of his chair. "Fine!" There was a sudden gust of air around Koenma and a 'poof' noise as he reverted back to his toddler state. Botan smiled at him.

"I'll tuck you in," she said sweetly, earning a glare from Koenma.

"Don't coddle me, Botan. Now pick me up, I don't feel like being on my feet anymore." Botan hid her giggle behind her hand and complied, pulling the toddler sized prince into her arms.

* * *

Kurama was waiting for Ayumi again at the corner of her street, and she smiled politely at him in greeting. He returned it and the two fell into step with each other as they walked. Aside from the usual small talk, they didn't really say much. However, Ayumi could pick up on the fact that Kurama was slightly distracted.

"Are you okay?" she finally asked when he didn't even answer her a moment before. He blinked a few times, coming out of his stupor and turning to her. With a polite smile he waved her off.

"Of course, why wouldn't I be?"

She narrowed her eyes at him. "Because you're a million miles away," she said in a matter of fact voice. He gave her his best innocent face.

"What do you mean?"

"I asked you a question a moment ago. What was it?" she asked. He said nothing, but the smile and innocent doe-eyed look he'd given her remained. She watched with mild amusement as slight panic crept into those wide eyes, as he couldn't seem to recall what it was she asked. "Don't hurt yourself," she teased. The innocent façade finally broke and he coughed quietly, shoving his hands into his pockets and looking away from her.

"I apologize," he finally said. "It's…I'm worried about Hiei." Ayumi frowned at this, thinking back to the four boys. It was the only name that sounded the least familiar.

"The short one with the bad attitude?" she asked, quoting Yusuke. Kurama smiled slightly and nodded. Ayumi scoffed. "Yeah, I can see why. A guy like that has _got_ to have some issues."

Kurama offered her a patient look before turning his attention to the sidewalk in front of them. "Don't rush to pass judgment on him."

Ayumi looked doubtful and put her hands in the pockets of her hoodie. "He seems to have passed judgment on me already. What was that he called me? Oh, right. A stupid, pathetic, human."

"Hiei is a misanthrope when it comes to humans, unfortunately," Kurama started with a wry smile. "But he has reasons to be the way he is. I just wish he'd let us in, even if it was just a little." Ayumi noticed that he sounded a little sad and she frowned, tilting her head to the side to get a better look at him. Kurama caught her stare and suddenly laughed a little, waving her off once more. "I just feel like we could help him, if he'd let us. That's all. It's really nothing, I suppose. It's just his way."

"Hmm. Well, I don't really know him, so I guess I can't really say anything to his character. But, you guys do seem to be really good friends. Even if he is reluctant to admit it. He might open up, eventually," she said enthusiastically. Kurama smiled at her for this and nodded in thanks. Her school came into view and Ayumi stopped for a second, reaching out to tug on Kurama's sleeve. He stopped and gave her a questioning look. "I'm sorry about what I said. About your friend, I mean."

Kurama gave her an understanding smile. "Thank you, but don't worry about it. I'm well aware of how hostile Hiei can come off as," he told her. She nodded and shoved her hands in her pockets again, pursing her lips.

"I also have to apologize for Satsu," she said flatly. Kurama blinked in confusion and Ayumi pointed to her school gate, where her friend Satsu was already making her way towards them. Kurama's face broke out into a rather amused smile and he shrugged.

"It's quite alright. She's not nearly as bad as the girls in my school." Ayumi laughed at this, believing him. She could only imagine the kind of fan club his looks toppled with his 'gentlemen-like' attitude created. Satsu reached them and greeted both Ayumi and Kurama, and the trio walked the rest of the way to the school gate. Satsu did most of the talking while both Ayumi and Kurama seemed to be absorbed in their own thoughts, only half paying attention. Once Kurama said goodbye and began the trek towards his own school, Ayumi took Satsu's arm into her own and smiled.

"You're so transparent, it's a little embarrassing," she teased. Satsu blushed and looked down at her shoes as they walked into the school.

"You think he noticed?" Satsu asked as Ayumi rolled her eyes.

"As I said, _transparent_." She laughed at Satsu's pout at this, but Ayumi suddenly quieted down when she felt the hairs on the back of her neck stand up. Turning around, she took a look around the crowded hallway, barely hearing Satsu's question of 'what's wrong?' She didn't see anything out of the ordinary, but she still felt like there was something _wrong_. "Uh…nothing. Just got the chills, you know? Thought somebody had a staring problem," Ayumi said, laughing it off.

* * *

School ended and Ayumi left the school in a hurry, pulling her bag tighter over her shoulder. For some reason she just wanted to get back to the apartment as quick as possible, and maybe even hang out with whoever was on 'babysitting' duty today. She definitely felt better knowing that there was always someone there looking out for her, but now she just felt incredibly alone and like something was still off.

She was about halfway home when the foul smell assaulted her nose. Her hand immediately clamped over her nose and mouth as she nearly staggered at the stench, her free hand steadying her against a building. The sun disappeared behind a swarm of clouds and sudden darkness descended upon her, making her feel rather chill. Creeped out and trying not to gag at the smell, Ayumi pushed herself off the wall and kept walking towards her apartment building.

The closer she got to the apartment, the more she felt like she wasn't going to reach it safely. Her heart sped up and she started to jog, ignoring the tingling feeling at the nape of her neck. She was a block away when something inside her snapped and she broke out into a sprint, fear clawing it's way up into her spine and she couldn't help but look back every so often behind her. The smell got worse and her stomach turned, causing her to stumble slightly. She managed to catch herself and she kept running, looking over her shoulder one more time. She wasn't alone.

Three figures were running after her, and Ayumi's eyes widened at the site of them. All she could see from her view was gray skin, empty eye sockets, and the distinct sound of bugs hovering in the air. Swallowing her scream she sped up as fast as she could go, turning just in time to stop herself from crashing into two more figures in front of her. This time she did scream as she skidded and fell onto her side, grunting in pain. She sat up and backed up against a building, the smell of rotting flesh assaulting her nose and the sight of them making her shake.

One of them produced a dagger and aimed it for her throat, slashing sideways. Ayumi closed her eyes and waited for a blow that never came as she heard the sound of metal clashing against metal. Opening her eyes she saw Hiei standing in front of her with a katana drawn, and after he grunted for a minute he overpowered his opponent and pushed him backwards with the katana, slashing sideways and cutting one of the figures in half. He then moved too fast for Ayumi's eyes could see, but one moment all five were standing in front of him and the next moment they were all lying on the ground in several pieces. Ayumi watched in horror as their bodies started to fuse together again.

"Get on," Hiei told her, motioning towards his back. Ayumi stared at him, dumbfounded and he narrowed his eyes at her. "Now!" he hissed between clenched teeth. She found her feet then and scrambled onto his back, thankful for her small size as her arms locked around his shoulders and his hands caught her legs beneath her knees. He took off, and Ayumi had to duck her head behind his shoulder and close her eyes to stop them from watering. She couldn't see the scenery around her, but the stench was getting heavy again. They were being followed.

They made it onto Ayumi's street as the sun broke through the clouds, the light hitting all seven of them, as Ayumi's heart started to beat wildly in her chest. She suddenly felt warmth on her injured hip and arm where she bruised it the other day just as Hiei felt extreme warmth in his shoulder blade. He looked to her over his shoulder, confused, before a blade distracted him. He narrowly missed it, nearly dropping Ayumi in the process, and recollected himself, focusing on his feet. The apartment came up before them and Hiei leapt from the ground to Yusuke's floor, not even bothering with the door as he crashed in through the window. He rolled onto the ground, dropping Ayumi in the process as Yusuke jumped to his feet at the sight of them.

"What the hell?" he asked, looking at them both. Ayumi stood and ran past Yusuke to the bathroom, lifting up the toilet seat and falling to her knees just as her stomach gave out on her.

Yusuke watched as Ayumi rushed past him and turned to Hiei, only to see that he wasn't there anymore. Turning to the kitchen he watched as Hiei bent himself over the sink and threw up everything that happened to be in his stomach. Rushing to the kitchen, Yusuke turned the water on in the left hand side of the sink and grabbed two glasses from the cabinet. Hiei beat him to it and used his hand to spoon water into his mouth, which he repeatedly spit back out into the sink.

"Fuck!" the Jaganshi cursed with clenched teeth.

"What the hell happened?" Yusuke asked, leaning over a bit to make sure Hiei was okay.

"That damn Necromancer found a way to send his corpses through," Hiei's rough voice answered. Ayumi walked into the kitchen looking rather sick and Yusuke handed her a glass of water, which she gratefully took and started to drink. Hiei pulled himself back from the sink and yanked his coat off, not bothering with the white scarf around his neck, throwing it over one of the chairs in the kitchen. With a heated glare at Ayumi, he pulled up his sleeve a little to inspect his shoulder blade as best he could. "What the hell did you do?" he asked her. She looked up and narrowed her eyes at him.

"What are you talking about?" she asked, looking to Yusuke. The Detective shrugged in response.

"The wound from my shoulder is completely gone."

Yusuke blinked a few times and stepped around Hiei to inspect it, making a 'huh' noise after a moment. "It damn sure is," he muttered. "Did you do that?" he asked, turning to Ayumi. She looked like he had grown two heads.

"Excuse me, but can we focus on that later? What the _hell_ were those things? Zombies!?" she asked, wide-eyed. The adrenaline was starting to wear off and she was suddenly overwhelmed with exhaustion.

"Don't be silly. Zombies don't exist," Yusuke said casually, taking back Ayumi's now empty glass. "They were reanimated corpses."

Ayumi mustered up the meanest glare she could. "That's a zombie, Yusuke!"

He made a face and moved towards his now broken window, peering out. The 'zombies' were hanging around the edge of the apartment building, not able to get any closer thanks to the energy barrier Yusuke and the others created. Even from there Yusuke could get a waft of their smell and his nose wrinkled in disgust. He stepped away from the window and scowled. "Damn they stink!"

"What else do you expect at least hundred-year old rotting flesh to smell like?" Hiei asked, a hardened look in his eye. He was getting rather tired of coming into contact with them. Once was enough, and this was now his second encounter. Quite frankly the hiyoukai didn't think his damn stomach could take anymore.

"Thanks for breaking my window so their wonderful aroma could find it's way into my apartment," Yusuke said curtly, narrowing his eyes at his shorter friend. Hiei glared at him but didn't respond. Ayumi suddenly felt dizzy and she stumbled backwards, barely catching the wall closest to her. "Woah, you okay?" Yusuke asked, coming up behind her and placing his hands on her shoulder to steady her.

"Yeah, yeah…" Ayumi said, taking in a deep breath and standing upright again. Her balance failed her and she nearly crashed sideways again, Yusuke holding her up and keeping her from falling onto the floor. "Maybe not," she muttered.

"Come on." Yusuke helped her over to the couch where she laid down, Yusuke pulling the blanket that was over the back of the couch over Ayumi's body. "Sleep it off. You'll be okay," he told her. She peeked up at him through her bangs and frowned.

"My grandma…" she started, but Yusuke stopped her.

"I'll take care of it." Ayumi wasn't sure she believed him, but she was too tired to do otherwise.

"Don't let the zombies get me, Yusuke."

She saw him smile as the edge of her vision went dark. As she closed her eyes and started to drift off to sleep, she could hear him say, "Wouldn't dream of it."

* * *

**Final A/N: **I hope you liked it! Oh, by the way, I was browsing the pictures on the interwebs and I found a pretty good picture of how I imagine Ayumi's bedroom! Hurray for reference pictures! Make sure you erase all the spaces and replace the word DOT with an actual period.

**Ayumi's Bedroom: **gianramos . files . wordpress DOT com /2012/04/bedrooms-for-teen-girls-with-red-neon-lights_large . jpg?w=604


	6. Feud

**Author's Note: **Hello everyone! Here's the sixth installment, and I hope you like it! Please don't forget to leave a quick review before you leave. :3

**Disclaimer:** If you recognize it, I don't own it.

* * *

**When The Sun Goes Down**

_Chapter Six_

Nimble fingers reached up and grasped onto two thick velvet curtains, drawing them shut before the sunlight could find its way into the warehouse. Having shut the last of the long drapes, Daisuke let out a sigh and stepped back, taking a look around the dark and gloomy room. Demetri had two places, one set up in Makai and one here in Ningenkai, and quite frankly Daisuke liked the one in Makai a lot better. This warehouse looked like an image out of a vampire novel, with heavy dark red drapes all over the place and the rest of warehouse being cold, dark, covered in dust, and littered with rustic and Gothic styled furniture. The only light source were candles that covered nearly every stable surface.

Daisuke's bright purple eyes turned when the door that led to Demetri's 'dungeon' opened up to reveal his charge, and Daisuke could already tell he was aggravated. Currently clad in nothing but black jeans that hung off his hips, Daisuke would say that Demetri could look almost pass as human if it wasn't for the look in his eyes. Even from across the room Daisuke could feel the ice and malice that poured out of them. Wiping his hands on the black Chinese styled suit he was currently wearing, he watched as Demetri ignored him completely and stepped into their makeshift kitchen to grab a drink.

"Do you always have to stare at me like that?" Demetri asked, his lips in a tight line. Daisuke's hands started to shake ever so slightly.

"I'm sorry," he said, averting his eyes from Demetri and looking down at the floor. Demetri placed his drink down and stared at Daisuke with some new found interest, sauntering over to where he was standing. Shoving his ash colored hair out of his eyes, Demetri gave Daisuke a rather hard look.

"Such a good boy, Daisuke," Demetri started, his voice low. Daisuke clasped his hands behind his back to stop them from shaking too much. "You know, I think I've punished you enough for your disobedience from the other day, what do you think?"

Daisuke kept his eyes on the ground. He hated it when Demetri was in this kind of mood. "I fully support whatever decision you make on the matter." Demetri was suddenly invading his personal space, his hand gripping Daisuke's chin with more force than necessary as he yanked Daisuke's face up so he could meet his eyes.

"That's not what I asked," Demetri snarled out. "Answer the question!" His grip on Daisuke's chin tightened.

Daisuke stopped chewing on his lip long enough to mutter out an answer. "Yes, I think you've punished me enough. I hoped you wouldn't see it as disobedience."

Demetri kept his cold eyes on Daisuke's face, almost as if he was unable to look away. Daisuke wished he would look at something else. He couldn't stand looking into Demetri's eyes for very long. "And what should I view it as?" Demetri asked slowly, yanking Daisuke's body closer until he was pressed fully against him, ignoring how tense Daisuke went at this.

"I just didn't want you to get hurt," Daisuke whispered, whimpering at the pain Demetri was causing the entire lower half of his face. Demetri's face twisted into a malicious smile as he released Daisuke's face but kept him pressed up against his body. Running a hand through Daisuke's black locks, he leaned in and pressed his lips to Daisuke's temple.

"You…care about me…Daisuke?" Demetri asked. Daisuke closed his eyes and started to nervously chew on his bottom lip, nodding against Demetri's shoulder. "You have been such a good guide to me, haven't you?" Demetri whispered, his lips still pressed against Daisuke's skin.

"I've tried my very best."

Demetri chuckled at this, gripping Daisuke's shoulder and roughly shoving him back into the wall. Demetri's upper lip curled in disgust as he looked at Daisuke and then he finally turned and went back towards the kitchen. "Your best isn't good enough," he said harshly over his shoulder. Daisuke let out a small sigh of relief and rubbed at his face, quickly retreating into his 'corner' of the warehouse. Sitting down on the mountain of pads that made up his bed, Daisuke pulled a thick black pen out of his pocket and pulled his sleeve up, beginning to aimlessly doodle on his right arm, which was already covered in a fair amount of ink.

After all, it was best to leave Demetri alone when he was like this.

* * *

Ayumi just started to discard the tank top and yoga shorts she wore to bed when her grandmother knocked on the door, peeking her head in. Turning her head to smile at her grandma, she still couldn't help but wonder what Yusuke told her last night about 'taking care' of things. She remembered falling asleep on his couch last night, but this morning she woke up in her bed and her grandmother hadn't said anything to her since she'd woken up.

"This afternoon I thought we'd visit ojiisan's grave," she said, catching Ayumi off guard. Her smile faded and she faced her grandma, tucking a stray strand of hair behind her ear. "I'll pick you up from school today, so make sure you wear something nice."

"Oh, um…okay," Ayumi said, a little nervous. How was she supposed to deal with her grandmother if this afternoon was a repeat of yesterday?

"Are you alright?" her grandmother asked, opening the door up a little wider. Ayumi quickly smiled and nodded.

"Yeah. Just caught me off guard, is all," she explained. Her grandmother gave her an understanding look before turning to leave. "Have a good day, ichi-hiki."

"Thanks." Ayumi proceeded to get dressed then, deciding on something more formal than what she was originally going to wear. She quickly got dressed and grabbed her bag, heading out of her room. Saying goodbye to her grandma once more, she left and locked the door behind her. Placing her keys in her bag, she quickly walked to Yusuke's apartment and knocked on the door. The glass from the window had been cleaned up, but Ayumi could still notice that the glass was missing, the only thing separating the outside world and the view into Yusuke's apartment was their curtains. Yusuke opened the door looking bleary eyed and sleepy, and Ayumi covered her mouth with her hand.

"Ayumi?" he asked, yawning fiercely. "Everything alright?" He took in her outfit and raised an eyebrow. "You look nice."

She cleared her throat and thanked him. "Sorry for waking you, it's just…my grandma wants me to go with her to the cemetery this afternoon. Straight from school, I mean. And…well that's kind of a problem," she started to explain. Yusuke yawned again.

"The zombies are gone."

"But they could come back."

"Ayumi—" he started, but Ayumi cut him off.

"I don't want anything to happen to her, Yusuke."

He sighed and leaned against the door frame, offering her a sympathetic look. "Nothing's going to happen to her. Nothing's going to happen to _you_. Understand?"

She frowned and wrapped her arms around herself, still unsure. "Okay. Well, I guess I'll see you then," she said lamely, turning to leave. Yusuke rolled his eyes and stepped out of the apartment, leaning forward and catching her by the wrist and stopping her.

"Don't be afraid," he reassured her, but that wasn't what was bothering her.

"That's not really the problem. I'm just sick of being in the dark," she said hotly.

Yusuke let go of her wrist and crossed his arms, making a show of looking up at the sky and thinking about something. "Don't wanna involve you prematurely…" Yusuke explained quietly, as if he was talking to himself. "Seems I don't have much of a choice," he said flatly, letting out a tremendous sigh and finally looking back at Ayumi. "Screw it. If Koenma hasn't told me anything by this weekend, I'll fill you in. How about you come over Saturday and we hang out?"

"Who?" Ayumi asked, raising an eyebrow at the name. She knew Kurama and Kuwabara, but Koenma was an entirely different person. Yusuke offered her a wry smile and shrugged. "Right. Saturday, then."

"You don't do any sort of physical activity do you? Martial arts, gymnastics, anything?" Yusuke suddenly asked. Ayumi shook her head, confused at the random question.

"I try to avoid it, to be honest. I'm not the clumsiest person out there, but I'm not exactly in the running for being graceful either," she explained. Yusuke looked a little annoyed at this and muttered something under his breath about making his job harder. And then a thought occurred to Ayumi. "Although, on Saturday and Sunday, I do yoga."

"Tch, figures. You look like the yoga type. Well, I suppose some previous flexibility and endurance training isn't all bad. Something's better than nothing." Ayumi raised an eyebrow at him again.

"What are you talking about?"

Yusuke's face relaxed into a natural grin. "You healed Hiei, and yourself. Which means I'm pretty sure you are the girl we think you are, which means we're going to have to toughen you up. And when I say we, I mostly mean me. And don't think I'm gonna take it easy on you just because you're a girl, got it?" He asked with such excitement that Ayumi didn't really know how to respond, let alone the fact that she didn't really know what he was talking about. He waved off her confused look. "Saturday morning, you and I are going to do yoga and we're going to have a chat."

Ayumi wanted to laugh at this. "You do yoga?" He made a face at her.

"Well, no. Yoga's a bit too girly for me. But I'll do some tai chi instead." Ayumi thought about this and eventually gave in, shrugging her shoulders in acceptance. He grinned again. "Great! Now…if you don't hurry up…you're going to be late for school."

Ayumi glared at him. "I could say the same thing," she told him, motioning towards the pajamas he was still wearing. He just gave her a sheepish smile and went back inside. Sighing, Ayumi turned and rushed out of the apartment building, knowing that Kurama was waiting for her.

* * *

"You actually think you can make a fighter out of her?" Hiei asked as soon as Ayumi was out of earshot. Yusuke locked the door and turned to face the hiyoukai, frowning and crossing his arms.

"Why not?"

"She makes Kuwabara look like an S-class fighter. That's why," Hiei said curtly, shoving his foot back into his boot. Yusuke watched as he did the same with his left foot and finally asked the question he's been wanting to for sometime now.

"Are you and Kurama fighting or something?" Hiei's eyes narrowed and he looked at Yusuke, a contemplative look in his eye. "I mean you just usually stay at his place. And lately you've been staying at mine. Not that I mind or anything, you're welcome whenever you want."

Hiei grunted and stood up, grabbing his scarf off of the back of the couch and wrapping it around his neck. "Kurama is nosy," he started, grabbing his coat and putting it on as well, tucking the ends of the scarf in until it became a cowl. "Are you nosy, Detective?"

"It's just weird, that's all." Yusuke watched as Hiei grabbed his katana off of the wall and attached it to his hip with more force than was necessary. "Is it serious?"

"Hard to feel welcome when people keep interrogating me," Hiei suddenly said with clenched teeth. Yusuke narrowed his own eyes, feeling his anger starting to rise.

"What the hell has been your problem lately? I'm not interrogating you, Hiei. I'm asking if there's anything wrong with you because that's what friends do," he shot back, earning a death glare from the fire demon.

"We are not friends," Hiei said hotly. "Allies, yes. And quite frankly I'm beginning to wonder why the hell I'm still here." Hiei moved to walk past Yusuke and out the door, but Yusuke's hand shot out and gripped Hiei's arm, holding him in place. Hiei gave Yusuke a warning look, which didn't faze Yusuke at all. "I suggest you take your hand off of me or I'll remove it for you."

"I don't know what's going on with you, but the least you could do is not act like a complete ass to the few people who actually give a damn about you."

Hiei growled at Yusuke's response and forcefully shoved him away, causing Yusuke to hit the wall closest to the door. Hiei was in his face in a second, pressing the detective against the wall. Yusuke fought back and gripped Hiei's shoulders, pushing him back as well. The two came to a standstill and Yusuke watched as Hiei's face darkened.

"Don't presume to know anything about me just because we've worked together in the past. I don't need anyone to give a damn about me, especially you of all people," Hiei spat out, suddenly releasing Yusuke and flitting out the door. Yusuke's blood was boiling now, flashes of Mazoku markings now fading into his skin, and rather than just let it go and let Hiei leave to blow off some steam, the Toushin stormed after him. He jumped the railing of the balcony and landed on the street behind Hiei, who turned and gripped the hilt of his katana. "You really want to do this here?" Hiei asked.

"Let's go!" Yusuke shot back, nearly disappearing and reappearing in front of Hiei, pulling his fist back and punching Hiei has hard as he could across the face. Hiei, not expecting the attack, flew sideways and hit the ground hard, a burn mark left on his cheek form where Yusuke hit him. Growling in rage, the fire demon stood and threw his coat and scarf off, also taking his katana off and tossing it onto the ground.

"If you want a fight, you've got one." Hiei moved to attack, but before he reached Yusuke the detective's eyes widened.

"Get out of the way!" Yusuke screamed, launching forward and gripping Hiei's shoulder, using Hiei's momentum to toss him onto his back. Hiei watched as Yusuke's threw his own body where Hiei's had just been, a familiar curved dagger piercing Yusuke's stomach. Hiei stood and caught Yusuke's falling form, setting him on the ground and cursing, looking up where the dagger had been thrown. Up on the top of a building was Demetri, piercing eyes concentrating on the duo. He was alone, and Hiei flitted to his katana before racing towards Demetri at top speed.

Demetri pulled another dagger from its hilt at his hip and stood in a defensive stance just as Hiei reached him. There was a flash of light and the sound of metal clashing against metal before the two disappeared, resuming their fight at their top speeds. Demetri, though not as fast as Hiei, was impressively fast and was able to match Hiei's sword skills. Yusuke sat up, clutching the dagger in his stomach with a groan and looked down. The dagger was almost to the hilt, and that wasn't good news for Yusuke. He could taste copper in his mouth and he spit blood out onto the ground, attempting to stand up.

Hiei grunted as Demetri shoved him back, a wicked smile appearing on his face. "Looks like I've got to go for now. You shouldn't leave the boy too long. He could die, you know," he said, enjoying the fire demon's reaction of fury. "What will it be? Will you let me escape? Or will you let your friend bleed to death?" A moving shadow appeared from behind Demetri and made its way towards his feet, and Hiei tightened his grip on his katana and moved forward, stopping just short of Demetri when he heard a pained scream from Yusuke.

Snarling, Hiei sheathed his katana. "You will die for that."

Demetri only laughed as the shadow consumed nearly his entire body. "I doubt it. So wrapped up in your own problems you didn't even notice I was here. Pathetic, really," Demetri stated, the shadow covering his head. With only his eyes remaining, Hiei could only hear a dark laugh as the shadow covered Demetri completely and before he could disappear entirely, Hiei flitted back to Yusuke. Pulling Yusuke's arm around his shoulder and supporting his midsection, Hiei jumped from the ground back to Yusuke's floor and they stumbled back into his apartment, the Toushin finally falling to the floor.

"Why did you do that?" Hiei asked him, nearly yelling. Yusuke gripped the handle of the blade and yelled out in pain, blood pooling in his mouth again. He coughed it out onto the floor and sat up in a sitting position, breathing heavily.

"It certainly isn't because we're friends or anything," Yusuke said hotly, trying to get a good grip on the handle. "Get it out."

"Yusuke—"

"Get it out!" Yusuke screamed, gripping Hiei's coat and coating it with blood. "Now!" Hiei pressed one hand to Yusuke's back and the other gripped the knife handle, and without a moment of hesitation he pulled the dagger out of Yusuke's stomach, ignoring Yusuke's scream of pain. Yusuke's hand instinctively pressed into the wound on his stomach as he nearly fell over, the hiyoukai the only thing keeping him up. "Get away from me," Yusuke snarled, shoving Hiei away from him and letting himself fall onto his side on the floor. "Bastard."

Hiei watched with a whirlwind of emotions inside of him, his hands clenching into fist as he stood and watched as Yusuke tried to crawl to the bathroom, leaving a trail of blood behind him. Yusuke managed to crawl his way into the bathroom where he leaned against the wall, breathing heavily as he retrieved the first aid kit. Spitting more blood out onto the floor Yusuke tried to concentrate on his energy to help heal him.

Yusuke didn't know how long he was that bathroom, but long before he passed out from the pain, the hiyoukai had taken his leave.


	7. Basics

**Author's Note:** Huzzah! Another chapter for you guys. It's not real exciting I suppose, but it needed to be here anyways. xD. I hope you guys like it. Thank you so much to those who have reviewed so far. I really appreciate it and I think I'm going to make you guys some cookies, because you deserve some cookies. (:

Well, nothing else to say I suppose. I hope you like it, and don't forget to leave a quick review before you leave! :3

Oh, and once again, huge thanks to **Mayushii** (author of the Saisei Project) for answering some technical questions for me.

**Disclaimer: **If you recognize it, I don't own it.

* * *

**When The Sun Goes Down**

_Chapter Seven_

Kurama hung back as Ayumi and her grandmother entered Yusuke's apartment building. He had been tailing them since she got out of school, and while he was thankful there weren't any incidents today, it raised his suspicions. They attacked yesterday, and they could clearly come through the barrier, so why hadn't the Necromancer sent more corpses for her? He watched as Ayumi and her grandmother entered their apartment, and Kurama approached the building. The wind changed and a scent came to Kurama that gave him pause before his eyes widened slightly and he sprinted up the stairs to Yusuke's floor. Rushing through the door, he came to a stop at the source of the smell. A large puddle of blood greeted him, and Kurama looked at the drag marks leading to the bathroom. Wasting no time, he opened the bathroom door and came upon the Toushin who was nearly unconscious.

"Yusuke," he said gently, moving into the bathroom completely and bending down to help Yusuke sit up. He groaned out in pain as Kurama noticed his shirt was covered in blood and his hand was pressing into his stomach. Kurama gently removed it and inspected the wound as best he could; getting a little irritated at how difficult it was to see and to maneuver in the small bathroom. "I wonder how you don't run out of shirts. I apologize for this," he said quickly, gripping the hole that was already in Yusuke's shirt and ripping it clean off of him. "I also apologize for this."

He gripped Yusuke's arm and slung it around his shoulders, using his free arm to wrap around Yusuke's waist. With a definitive yank he hauled Yusuke to his feet, ignoring the yell of pain coming from the wounded detective. Yusuke's hand clutched at his stomach in pain as the two stumbled out of the bathroom. They cleared the hallway and Kurama looked up to see Kuwabara standing in the living room, staring at the pool of blood with wide eyes. He caught sight of Kurama and Yusuke, rushing to Yusuke's side and helping Kurama hold him up.

"What the heck happened Urameshi?" Kuwabara asked, his voice rising in slight panic. Yusuke didn't answer and instead bent over as much as he could and spit out another mouthful of blood.

"Questions later. Get him to the bedroom," Kurama instructed, Kuwabara nodding and together the two carried Yusuke into his bedroom. "I need towels. Lots of them." Kuwabara released Yusuke and turned, rushing back into the bathroom. Yusuke grit his teeth in pain and grunted, feeling incredibly dizzy. "Relax, Yusuke. We'll get you patched up," Kurama said gently.

"Got them!" Kuwabara yelled, coming back into the room with a stack of towels.

"Good. Put them down and grab the spare futon in the closet. Hurry," Kurama instructed as Kuwabara did as he was told. He placed it on the floor next to the bed and covered it with a towel, and then helped Kurama lay Yusuke down on top of it. "Alright, listen carefully Kuwabara. No doubt Atsuko has some alcohol laying around here somewhere. Vodka is best, but I need any sort of clear alcohol. Understand?" he asked, earning a nod of Kuwabara.

"All right, anything else?" he asked, looking at the large wound in Yusuke's stomach.

"Dental floss, a hand cloth, and see if you can't find that sewing kit Atsuko owns."

Yusuke coughed up more blood. "Top of her closet. Covered in dust," he said pitifully. Kuwabara stood and left, leaving Kurama to use one of the towels to clean up as best he could around the wound.

"I can't tell if you're bleeding internally, Yusuke."

"Not anymore," Yusuke answered, breathing deeply. "Not as bad as it looks."

"That's comforting. Where's Hiei?"

The Toushin mustered up the best scowl he could and answered, "Don't know. Don't care." Before Kurama could ask, Kuwabara came back into the room carrying the first aid kit, a large bottle of vodka, a hand cloth, a sewing kit, and a canister of dental floss. He dropped it all next to Kurama and sat on the other side of Yusuke, looking towards the fox youkai.

"What now?" he asked. Kurama pulled a small seed from the nape of his neck, a magenta aura surrounding him while he poured his energy into the seed. It sprung to life and looked like some sort of foreign flower with a stem that was several inches wide and appeared to be several inches thick.

He held the stem of the flower to Yusuke's mouth. "Open," he commanded. Yusuke gave him a weird look before opening his mouth, and Kurama placed the stem of the flower inside sideways. "Close." Yusuke's mouth clamped shut around the stem, his teeth landing on the top and bottom of it. "Kuwabara, hold his hands. Last time I did this he punched me."

"Re-ex!" Yusuke grunted around the makeshift gag. Kuwabara moved and sat at Yusuke's head, taking Yusuke's wrist into his hand and holding them to the floor. Kurama placed another towel on the floor and then opened the bottle of vodka, pouring some of it onto his hands. Next he grabbed the hand cloth and drenched it in vodka, and then turned to Yusuke.

"Again, I do apologize for this," Kurama said, pouring vodka around the wound. Yusuke's eyes shut in pain and he screamed around the gag, his hands straining against Kuwabara and his upper back arching off the floor. As the alcohol sterilized and cleaned up around the wound Yusuke threw his head back as far as he could, nearly banging his head back against the floor. Once it was clean, Kurama quickly opened the sew kit and grabbed a needle and poured alcohol over that as well. Lacing the dental floss through the needle he turned to Yusuke's stomach.

Not bothering with an apology this time, the fox youkai simply held Yusuke's torso down and quickly stuck the needle through one side of the wound, and began to sew it shut. Yusuke reflexively trashed as much as he could and screamed, the gag muffling it. Kuwabara watched with wide eyes at Kurama's movements, and when the wound was almost shut Kurama placed another seed he pulled out of seemingly nowhere and it produced a small bulb, Kurama opening it and wiping his finger on the inside. He rubbed his now green-coated finger over the wound, and then quickly finished sewing it shut.

"What—" Kuwabara started.

"Natural coagulant. To help stop the bleeding." He tied off the floss and cut the excess off, using a clean part of the rag and dipping it in alcohol one more time and wiping up around the wound. Wiping his hands off, Kurama opened the first aid kit and placed a large piece of gauze on the wound and taped it there. He then pulled out the medical bandages and motioned for Kuwabara to sit him up, which he did. Kurama took the gag from Yusuke's mouth and tossed it to the floor, ignoring the string of curse words Yusuke was shooting at him. He bandaged up Yusuke's torso nice and tight, pretty pleased with his work.

"How do you not freak out?" Kuwabara suddenly asked, talking over Yusuke's complaining and cursing. Kurama took both flowers he used and recalled them back into seeds, putting them away.

"I'm just not the type to 'freak out', I suppose." Yusuke took in a deep breath and quieted himself, feeling tired and pissed off and like he wanted to hurt something. He snatched the bottle of vodka from the towel it was sitting on and chugged it, the burn from the alcohol sliding down his throat distracting him from the pain in his abdomen. "Where's Hiei?" Kurama asked again, sitting back onto his haunches before standing up. Yusuke held a hand up, which Kuwabara took, and helped pull him to his feet.

"I don't know. But I'm getting pretty damn tired of his attitude. Got into a damn brawl on the street and Demetri caught us off guard. So _stupid_," Yusuke hissed, obviously pissed at himself and at Hiei. Kurama looked worried at this and looked down at the floor, a frown on his face.

"Something has been deeply troubling Hiei for a while now."

"Something always seems to be troubling him," Yusuke retorted, crossing his arms over his chest, but Kurama was shaking his head.

"Not like this. Whatever this is, it's pretty bad. I've never known Hiei to be so…hostile. Not towards us, anyways. Especially not towards me."

"Maybe he just needs some space?" Kuwabara asked, starting to discard all the dirty towels into a pile on the floor. After that he moved the futon to the edge of the bed. "By the way, Urameshi, mind if I stay over Friday night?" Yusuke shrugged.

"Why the hell not? Ayumi's coming over Saturday and I'm going to tell her."

"Tell her what?" Kurama asked.

"Everything. Well, almost everything. We'll take it one step at a time."

"Well, I'll be here Saturday as well then, if that's alright with you and Atsuko."

Yusuke snorted and sat down on his bed, rubbing his hands over his face. "She'll be gone early in the morning. She's got some group of friends she meets with on the weekends to 'party' with." He let out a huge yawn and fell onto his back, eventually curling up on top of his bed as best he could. Kurama chuckled and with an uncooperative Yusuke, tugged the blanket out from underneath him and instead laid it on top of him. "Look at you, tucking me in like I'm some baby," Yusuke muttered.

"Compared to me, you're an infant," Kurama retorted flatly. Yusuke mustered up a glare, but considering how tired he was, it really wasn't all that threatening.

"You're seventeen years old."

"This body is seventeen years old. I, however, am somewhere around the three hundred mark." Yusuke blinked a few times before grunting and closing his eyes. "You're already wounded and susceptible to getting sick now that your immune system is entirely focused on your wound. I won't have you getting sick on top of that."

"Alright, you win. Gramps."

Kurama ignored the jibe and exchanged looks with Kuwabara, who gathered up the supplies they used and started to clean up. "We'll clean everything up, including the puddle of blood in the bathroom and living room. Get some sleep, I'm sure you'll be mostly healed by Saturday." Kurama gathered up a few things as well and before he left, he stopped at the doorway and turned to face Yusuke. "And please don't be too hard on Hiei. I'm really worried about him, and that's not something I do often," the fox youkai admitted. Yusuke thought about it, but instead of answering he just turned to face the wall. Realizing that was Yusuke's way of saying 'I'll think about it', Kurama shut the door and let him pass out.

* * *

Ayumi's curiosity had been killing her, and she was so thankful when Saturday finally arrived. She hadn't seen Yusuke since Thursday and vaguely wondered why, but she assumed he just got busy with whatever it was he does. Kurama had walked her to school Thursday and Friday, while Kuwabara walked her home on Friday. She finished putting her hair up into her usual donut bun on top of her head for yoga. Pulling the strap for her yoga mat up, she exited her room and made a beeline for the front door.

"And just where do you think you're going?" Ayumi halted just as her hand wrapped around the door handle, and she turned sheepishly to look at her grandmother who was holding a cup of tea and sitting on the couch.

"You're up early."

"Don't change the subject, girl."

"Well, it turns out Yusuke does tai chi. I'd like to have a work out partner when I do my yoga. So…he invited me over," Ayumi answered, shrugging her shoulders as if it were no big deal. Her grandmother's eyes zeroed in on her.

"That's not a secret code for sex is it?"

Ayumi dropped her yoga mat and nearly fell over from shock, turning to gape at her grandma. "Obaachan!" she scolded, her hands twitching as she reached for her mat. "No! Just…no! What's wrong with you?" she asked, her face turning completely red. Her grandmother's look never changed and she was still waiting for an answer. "Obaachan, Yusuke is completely and irrevocably in love with his childhood best friend. She feels the same. They're both just too embarrassed to announce it to one another. And Yusuke is turning out to be a very good friend, he is SO not my type." Her grandmother gave her a skeptical look but returned to her tea.

"Very well, then. You may go." Ayumi pursed her lips in annoyance and sighed, opening up the door and leaving. "Have fun," her grandmother said just before she shut the door. Without waiting, Ayumi was knocking on Yusuke's door. Instead of Yusuke answering, however, Kuwabara opened up the door and smiled at her.

"Hey Kuwabara," she greeted.

"Hello! Come on in. Yusuke's waiting for you in his room." Ayumi stepped into the house and didn't bother with the houseguest slippers; she'd be taking them off to do yoga anyway.

"Haven't seen you in a while."

"Oh, yeah. Sorry about that. My school's further than yours and Kurama's is, so during the week I gotta focus on my school work as much as I can," Kuwabara explained, scratching the tip of his nose. Ayumi nodded in understanding, waving the taller boy off.

"I understand. I was just wondering," she started, frowning when she thought about her original question. "Has Yusuke been busy or something?" she asked, curious to Yusuke's absence. Something flashed over Kuwabara's face as he avoided her gaze.

"Sort of," he muttered, ignoring Ayumi's look of confusion. They entered Yusuke's room and she found him sitting cross-legged on the bed, his back up against the wall. He was still only wearing his pajama pants. And then Ayumi noticed Kurama standing next to the bed wearing a simple white martial arts uniform with a maroon sash tied around his waist.

"Hope you don't mind if I do the tai chi instead, Ayumi," Kurama said in greeting. She shrugged, but turned her attention towards Yusuke.

"You okay?" she asked, sensing something was off about him. Yusuke gave her thumbs up and settled against the wall more comfortably.

"Yeah, just not feeling real well."

"Oh, well we don't have to do this if you need to rest," Ayumi offered, but Yusuke shook his head.

"No. I've slept enough. Besides, Kurama's going to attempt to teach Kuwabara tai chi. Should be hilarious." Yusuke ignored the glare Kuwabara gave him and kept his eyes on Ayumi. She shrugged and took out her mat, opening it up and setting it on the floor. The sunlight filtered in through the open curtains and Ayumi smiled at its warmth, beginning her routine in Mountain pose. She inhaled deeply, exhaled, and moved into Forward Bend. Meanwhile, Kurama began the first initial stands of Tai Chi, explaining them to Kuwabara who followed along, despite how awkward he looked.

"So, you can assume that I have a lot of questions," Ayumi started, coming out of Forward Bend on an exhale and returning to Mountain pose. "The problem is, I don't really know where to start." Yusuke smirked at this.

"Just pick a question and ask. I'll fill in the blanks."

Ayumi thought about it, deciding on her first question. "Are you human?"

"Not completely. I used to be, until recently."

"What happened?"

"Alright, maybe just picking a question isn't the right way to go about this. There's other things you need to understand before we go into that particular, long ass, story," Yusuke said with a laugh. "Alright, let's see…" Yusuke trailed off, thinking about it. Ayumi continued with her routine, waiting for him to begin. When he didn't, she looked up at him questioningly. He looked like he was in turmoil. "Damn…alright, Kurama…sorry, but I need some sort of starting point."

Kurama stopped his instructions, but motioned for Kuwabara to keep practicing and turned to Ayumi. "Why don't you start by telling us what you know and what you're comfortable with? You said it wasn't hard for you to believe in demons because your family already believes in spirits and ghosts, so start there."

Ayumi thought about it before answering, "My family believes that when you die, you have two options. You can linger as a ghost, or your spirit can move on."

"Move on to where?" Kurama asked.

"Uh…well my grandpa called it Land of Spirits, where your spirit is taken to be judged or something and then you go wherever you're supposed to go. Heaven, hell, whatever," Ayumi answered with a bit of a blush. Kurama and Yusuke both smiled at her for this.

"Your gramps was pretty in tune, then. Did he have spirit awareness?" Yusuke asked.

"What's that?"

Kuwabara stopped what he was doing and turned to face Ayumi as well, a proud grin on his face. "Spirit awareness is when you can sense the supernatural. I've had strong spirit awareness since I was a kid." Ayumi couldn't help but smile at this. Honestly, she had a hard time not smiling whenever she was around Kuwabara. He was generally a happy and enthusiastic person to be around.

"Well he did say that every once in a while he could have sworn he sensed my mother's presence." Kuwabara snapped his fingers in confirmation.

"Spirit awareness. I could feel ghosts and spirits around me all the time. I used to call it 'the Tickle'," Kuwabara explained, ignoring the deadpanned look on Yusuke's face. "Now it comes in handy."

"Yeah, when it decides to work," Yusuke interjected sourly. The comment didn't seem to faze Kuwabara in the least.

"When you die your spirit leaves your body," Kurama started to explain, taking a seat on the spare futon lying on the floor. "It's greeted by a ferry girl, that is…a grim reaper," he said with a sudden amused smile on his face as he thought of something.

"You mean the skeleton with the black hood and sickle is real?" Ayumi asked, raising an eyebrow. Yusuke and Kuwabara couldn't help but laugh, and Kurama attempted to contain his laughter behind his hand. She could feel her cheeks getting hot.

"Can you imagine? Botan wearing a black hood and carrying around a sickle?" Yusuke asked. Ayumi didn't know who Botan was, but she had a nagging feeling that she had missed something.

"I'm afraid the position has been somewhat exaggerated. As it stands, there is more than one ferry girl that guide spirits, but the one we know rather well is a ferry girl named Botan. And she's…well, the exact opposite of the grim reaper," Kurama finished explaining. "Anyways, her job is to ferry your spirit to the Spirit World, or Reikai. The Reikai has several purposes, and King Enma runs it. However, a huge part of the Spirit World is judging the dead, which King Enma's son, Koenma, does. It's basically his department, along with another job that we'll get into."

"I see," Ayumi said, absorbing all the information. "Okay, I guess that makes sense. So how do you get there?"

"Your physical body cannot enter the Reikai, only your spirit can, with a few exceptions of course. So unless you know Astral Project, you're stuck in Ningenkai and never enter the Spirit World unless you, of course, die. Ningenkai is the human world," Kurama explained.

"So…wait. You guys can do Astral Projection?"

"Yes. As I said, there are exceptions. Several of the Spirit World's members and employees have the ability to retain their physical form while working there. Mostly the ogres and the SDF. And of course when demons or apparitions are brought into prison, they are also able to retain their physical body so they can be sentenced. I'm afraid that particular explanation is long winded and complicated, so it's better if you just don't think about it too much."

"That's kind of cool," Ayumi admitted. "Alright, so let's move onto demons and apparitions."

"There's a third realm, called the Makai," Yusuke started. "That's where most demons and apparitions live, along with any other monster-like creature that don't classify as demons but sure as hell aren't human or spirits."

"So where is this realm? How do you get there? Astral projection?" she asked, stopping her yoga and instead coming to standstill. She was too focused on their words to focus on her yoga anyways.

"That's a bit more complicated," Kurama told her, taking a seat on the edge of Yusuke's bed. "Spirit World resides in a place that's neither here nor there, hence the need for astral projection. The Makai and Ningenkai exist in physical planes, but they are separated. Like I said, it's a very long winded and complicated answer," he explained, shaking his head a little. That certainly did sound quite complicated. "What you do need to know is that demons are vastly different from humans in every way, and most of them hate the human realm and would very much like to see it destroyed. There are mass amounts of demons that are strong enough to accomplish this, so Spirit World set up a kekkai barrier to stop incredibly powerful demons from getting into the Ningenkai."

A thought occurred to Ayumi then and she frowned, thinking over his words. "So what about the rest of the demons then? The ones that aren't incredibly powerful but…can still pack a punch?"

"Well, the barrier was only made to stop powerful demons from coming through. They could adjust the barrier to block all demons, but chances are the upper class demons would be able to find a weakness in it and break it. Spirit World won't risk that. So, that's where Yusuke comes in," Kurama said with a smile. Yusuke grinned, but then his face suddenly hardened as he turned to Kurama.

"Which, by the way, I got conned into doing! That twerp said nothing about this Spirit Detective crap until after he revived me," he said hotly. Ayumi didn't know what he was talking about, so she just waited. Yusuke caught onto her expression and sighed, leaning back against the wall. He winced and his hand went to his stomach, and Ayumi knitted her eyebrows together in concern.

"Are you okay?" she asked, moving towards the bed. He held out a hand to stop her and nodded, waving her off.

"Stomach pains," he muttered. "Anyways, I was fourteen when I died for the first time. Saved a kid from oncoming traffic, got my ass ran over in the process. It was all very dramatic," he stated, ignoring the wide-eyed look Ayumi was giving him. Kuwabara scoffed and crossed his arms and Kurama just seemed amused at Yusuke's words. "Botan ferried my spirit to the Reikai and I met Koenma, and long story short he gave me the opportunity to be revived. I thought it was just because they didn't have a place for me because was so unexpected. Turns out, Koenma needed a Spirit Detective and decided I would be perfect for the job." Yusuke's face darkened a little and Ayumi wondered if he was bitter about the whole thing. It certainly seemed like it.

"Don't mind Yusuke, he may acts like he hates his job, but I think deep down he loves it. Although, Koenma does seem to rub him the wrong way from time to time…" Kurama said insightfully. Yusuke ignored this and kept his eyes on Ayumi.

"My job as Spirit Detective, in concept, is straight forward and easy. I work for Koenma to help keep the Ningenkai and Reikai safe from any threats coming from the Makai. Basically, a demon decides he wants to destroy the world and I beat the hell out of him until he either thinks otherwise or he's no longer able to have a thought process at all."

"That's a rather rough summary of your job," Kurama chided. "Don't forget there's occasionally humans you have to deal with as well."

"You forgot to mention that there's another option too. Instead of beating the hell out of said demon you just make friends with them and that's the end of that," Kuwabara cut in, motioning to Kurama and clearly making fun of Yusuke. Ayumi watched with amusement as a vein tried to pop out of Yusuke's forehead as he sent Kuwabara death glare.

"How about I beat the hell out of you instead?"

"Why would you do that? You and I are already friends," the taller boy retorted, once again clearly making fun of Yusuke.

Ayumi couldn't help but laugh with Kurama at the two as they argued back and forth. "Kuwabara does have a point. You do have a habit of making friends with people you're supposed to be fighting against," Kurama said, completely ignoring the death glare Yusuke was giving him. All the arguing suddenly stopped short, however, when Yusuke's face sharpened and he turned towards the door. Standing just outside of the room with an unreadable expression on his face and his hands buried deep into his pockets, was Hiei. His eyes were only focused on Yusuke and an uncomfortable tension seemed to fill the air. Nobody said anything for about two minutes before Ayumi fidgeted.

"Okay, well…I'm going to head back to my place and shower and get changed and stuff. But…I can come back?" she half asked, looking to Yusuke.

"Sure," he answered, not taking his eyes off Hiei. She quickly gathered her things and left, sliding past Hiei without so much as a glance and headed for the door.

"Kuwabara, why don't we get changed and then you help me with breakfast?" Kurama suggested, standing up and brushing the nonexistent dust off his pants. Kuwabara quickly agreed and the two left, leaving Yusuke and Hiei alone. Kurama watched as Hiei stepped inside the room and shut the door, and he frowned a little, hoping they weren't going to fight.

He was doubtful, but he still hoped.


	8. Breakfast

**Author's Note: **Hello everyone! Sorry for the delay in updating, I had to rewrite this chapter a few times to tweak it to my liking. I'm still not sure how I feel about it. xD. Also, GaiaOnline has been a thorough distraction, what with all the coding I've been working on. And I'm still nowhere near done. /sigh

But that's really not all that important I suppose. You're here to read a story, not read about me babbling. xD. I hope you like it, and thanks so much to those who have taken the time to leave a review. I really appreciate it, and I've got a whole new batch of cookies for you. (:

**Disclaimer: **If you recognize it, I don't own it.

* * *

**When The Sun Goes Down**

_Chapter Eight_

Hiei stared at Yusuke's stomach, and despite the fact that Yusuke had covered his wound with a t-shirt, it seemed as if Hiei could see right through it. "You're still wounded."

"Nice of you to notice," Yusuke said calmly. He had taken Kurama's words to heart and had really given it some thought as to what he was going to do with Hiei. As of now, he still wasn't really sure what the answer was. But he definitely wasn't going to fight with him; he was still too damn tired. Hiei's eyes flickered off to the left and the two sat in awkward silence for a moment.

"I—" Hiei started, only to stop and scowl at himself, shaking his head. "It's not—" he stopped again, letting out a frustrated grunt as he leaned back against the wall. Eventually he settled with, "You should have just let the blade pierce me." Yusuke raised an eyebrow at this but said nothing. "I didn't ask you to save me."

"I'll keep that in mind," Yusuke retorted flatly. Another heavy silence filled the room.

"I don't enjoy being in your debt," Hiei finally said, refusing to look at Yusuke. "In the span of a week you have saved my life twice. It is…unsettling."

"I didn't ask you to feel like you were in my debt just because I saved your life. Regardless, that's not really the issue here, is it?"

Hiei scowled at the question. "It is for me."

"Bullshit." More awkward silence and tension filled the room and Yusuke grunted as the dull throbbing in his stomach worsened. "That blade must have been covered in something. I should have healed completely by now," Yusuke muttered, annoyed at the rate of his recovery and annoyed at the entire situation. Hiei scoffed.

"You are Mazoku. You will be fine."

"You say that like I'm invincible," Yusuke said, pulling up his shirt a little to inspect the wound. The bandages had come off from around his torso yesterday, but the gauze was still taped over the wound, and Yusuke could see that it was staring to bleed through again. Not much, but enough to annoy the living hell out of Yusuke. Not to mention the entire area was sore and tender, something Yusuke wasn't used to anymore.

"You've died twice and came back both times. I'd say that's about as invincible as any person can get without being omnipotent."

Yusuke's attention returned to the hiyoukai and he couldn't help but raise an eyebrow at his words. "That's an odd way to compliment somebody." Hiei's lips tightened into a straight line and he didn't add anything more, but he also didn't retract his statement. "Thought I even heard some respect in there," Yusuke teased a little, hoping to get Hiei to say anything to counteract the words he said Thursday.

Hiei's eyes hardened into a glare and finally zeroed in on Yusuke's face. "Don't insult me, Yusuke. Everything else aside you are more than aware of the fact that I respect you."

"Ever since I kicked your ass in that warehouse," Yusuke teased, earning a loud 'hmph' from the small demon.

"Don't try to twist the story, just because I've respected you ever since doesn't mean your victory wasn't anything more than a fluke."

Yusuke waved him off. "I guess it's just hard to believe that you respect me, or even have any sort of likeness for me, when everything about you seems to scream that you hate me."

"What are you—"

"When you saved me from Sniper and you beat some sense into me, you made me feel like a complete jackass. And I accepted that because I realized I was acting like one. But it's another thing entirely to make me feel like a jackass for thinking and believing that you actually give a damn when you really could care less," Yusuke suddenly said hotly, his face darkening. Hiei, taken by surprise, said nothing. "It's one thing to say you don't care and I know that you don't mean it. It's another to try and force me to actually believe that you don't. I just wish you'd pick a story and stick with it. Either you care or you don't."

Hiei was quiet for a moment, contemplating Yusuke's words. He finally let out another frustrated grunt and responded, "That was not my intention."

"Well that was the result you got regardless," Yusuke shot right back. "Before I could always tell that no matter what you were _saying _you didn't really mean it. Thursday, I couldn't. And that bothers me, not to mention it pisses me off." Silence fell over both of them as Yusuke winced and pushed himself off the wall slightly, maneuvering in his bed so he was sitting on the edge as he pulled the gauze off completely. It needed to be cleaned again and the bandage needed to be changed. Yusuke realized the first aid kit was on the other side of the room and he scowled at the distance.

There was a quick movement and the kit was suddenly next to Yusuke, as well as open. Hiei moved a few things out of the way and pulled out a cotton ball and a sterilized cleaning solution. "Lay back," Hiei instructed. Yusuke glared at the wall and didn't move, and with an annoyed snarl Hiei gripped Yusuke's shoulder and forcefully shoved him back onto the bed. Yusuke grunted in pain and his eyes went to the hiyoukai, hell bent on bitching him out. The words died in his throat however when Hiei quickly cleaned the area around the wound with surprising care.

"There's a small jar in there filled with this icky green stuff that Kurama made. It's supposed to—"

"Stop the bleeding," Hiei finished for him. "Yes, I've been made aware of it." Yusuke could swear there was some bitterness in the admission but he said nothing as Hiei grabbed the small jar and used a q-tip to apply it over the stitched up wound on the Toushin's stomach. Discarding the q-tip and cotton ball, Hiei cut off a piece of fresh gauze and held it over the wound, placing medical tape over it to hold it in place.

"I could have done that myself," Yusuke said stubbornly.

"You'd wind up making it worse, and Kurama's patchwork would have been a waste." Sitting up, Yusuke simply flipped Hiei off before pulling his shirt back down over his stomach. "I don't hate you," Hiei suddenly said, catching Yusuke off guard. He said nothing else, but Yusuke could hear the hidden apology in his words. With a sigh, Yusuke shook his head and finally looked at the hiyoukai.

"Always have to make everything so damn difficult," he muttered. Hiei blinked but said nothing. "Alright, whatever. I know you can't, or won't, tell me whatever it is that's been bothering you. Whatever the reason is, I don't know, but I guess it's not any of my business." In all honesty, Yusuke was hurt at the seemingly lack of trust Hiei seemed to place in him, something that he assumed wasn't an issue. But whatever was bothering Hiei, Yusuke wasn't 'worthy' enough for Hiei to just tell him, so he decided to just drop it. And he certainly wasn't going to tell Hiei any of that because Yusuke was a man and men didn't say sissy stuff like that to other men. It was weird. "You can help me get to the kitchen, however. I'm starving."

Hiei stared down at Yusuke with a troubled look in his eye, but eventually, silently, pulled the Toushin's arm around his shoulder. Supporting Yusuke's weight, the two headed out of the room and towards the kitchen.

* * *

Upon returning to Yusuke's apartment, Ayumi found Kurama and Kuwabara in the kitchen making breakfast. Well, to be honest, Kurama was doing all the cooking. Kuwabara was just kind of standing there and was trying to look useful.

"Smells delicious, Kurama. What are you making?" she asked, rubbing her growling belly.

"Okayu, tamagoyaki, miso soup, smoked salmon, tamago gohan, and benishoga for Kuwabara," Kurama said, giving Kuwabara a knowing look.

"That sounds really good. Well, actually, I'm not a huge fan of benishoga. A bit too strong for me," she commented, taking a seat at the table.

"You guys don't know what you're missing, benishoga is so refreshing!" Kuwabara finally gave up on helping Kurama and sat down opposite of Ayumi.

"I like it in sushi, but I can't eat it by itself," Kurama commented. He turned when he noticed Hiei and Yusuke walking into the kitchen, and Ayumi immediately frowned when she saw Yusuke being supported by Hiei.

"Yusuke…are you okay?" she asked once again, knitting her eyebrows together in worry. He gave her a reassuring smile and nodded.

"Yeah. Like I said, just not feeling well," he answered. Hiei's eyes flickered from Ayumi to Yusuke, a small frown on his face. He sat Yusuke down at the table to the right of Ayumi, and in the span of a blink he flitted to the opposite side and sat. He purposely scooted himself closer to Ayumi for two reasons. The first so that Kurama would have a place to sit and eat, and the second was so he could put as much distance between himself and Kuwabara as possible. It was a given that Hiei wasn't a fan of humans, but Ayumi noticed that there was just something about Kuwabara that annoyed the hell out of him.

"Hope everyone is hungry," Kurama said, carefully placing everything in the center of the table. He took his seat next to Hiei and everyone dug in, putting whatever they wanted onto their plates from the center of the table. For the most part, everyone ate in silence, enjoying the delicious meal Kurama had prepared. Ayumi had a sneaking suspicion that Kurama was good at nearly everything he did, to be honest.

"So, how you doing with everything we've told you so far?" Yusuke asked, taking a small sip of his miso soup.

"Not too bad," Ayumi answered. "I think I'm ready for more."

"I suppose we can reveal a bit more, but we don't want to overload you. There are so many things that you will, eventually, learn. But for now, let's stick to the very basics and then be patient," Kurama advised. Ayumi wasn't a huge fan of patience, but she supposed he was right.

"Alright, so Kuwabara…you're fully human, yes?" she asked. Kuwabara grinned and Hiei scowled.

"Got that right. I'm not like any of these weirdoes," he said with fondness.

"If you mean weirdoes as in superior in every way, you are correct," Hiei quickly shot at him. Kuwabara glared at Hiei but didn't answer him; instead, he turned his attention back to Ayumi.

"I already told you I've had high spirit awareness since I was a kid. I can also manifest my spirit energy into a physical weapon, usually a sword." Ayumi looked intrigued by this.

"Just like a normal sword?" she asked.

"It's actually rather versatile," Kurama said, sounding impressed.

Kuwabara beamed and nodded. "I can make two of them if I want, or just one. I can make it any size. I can make it bend if I can't hit straight at an opponent. I can even change its shape into something else. Heck, I once turned it into a fly swatter." Ayumi couldn't help but widen her eyes at this and laugh a little.

"A fly swatter? What, you couldn't find a normal one?" she teased.

"Trust me, a normal fly swatter wouldn't have worked against that particular bug," Kuwabara said, a hint of annoyance in his voice as the memory flashed through his head. The other three boys all nodded in agreement, and Ayumi realized it must have been some sort of difficult demon to defeat.

"Okay, okay, let's back up for a second," Ayumi suddenly started. "You said that Yusuke was a Spirit Detective, are you guys all detectives too?" she asked.

"Technically, Yusuke isn't even a Spirit Detective anymore. Not on paper anyways," Kurama explained. Ayumi wondered what he meant, and her confusing look made it clear she wanted to know why. "It's a bid of a long story, involving Yusuke's last case. Regardless, Yusuke still works as one for Koenma when he's asked to."

She nodded. "Okay, so you guys?" she asked again.

"No, I volunteer of my own free will. The fate of the world is usually in our hands, and I'm not about to blindly trust that to Yusuke," Kuwabara sniggered, yelling out in pain as Yusuke's hand shot out and smacked him upside the head.

"Jackass," Yusuke muttered under his breath. "Hiei and Kurama were actually from my very first case. They decided to be the thieves they are and stole three artifacts from Koenma's vault, along with another demon named Gouki."

Ayumi went wide-eyed again and looked to Hiei and Kurama, who were both incredibly interested in the food on their plate. "Wow, so what happened?"

"Turns out Kurama just wanted to use one of the artifacts for a good cause, so I got that one back relatively easy. The artifact that Gouki had was difficult to obtain and I pretty much got my ass kicked in the process of retrieving it," Yusuke started. He set down his chopsticks with a calm expression, which suddenly turned into an incredibly annoyed look. "And that asshole right there," he started, viciously pointing a finger in Hiei's direction. "Decided to try and turn the city into his own personal demon army by using the sword artifact, including Keiko."

Ayumi's eyes got bigger as she faced Hiei, who was staring holes into his plate; his cheeks tinted a light pink color. "You kidnapped Keiko?"

"And tried to turn her into a demon zombie!" Yusuke shouted. Hiei's foot began to tap against the floor as he ducked his head closer towards his plate, shoving food into his mouth and refusing to look at anybody. "Botan, Kurama, and I managed to beat him. After he, of course, kicked AND burned my ass that is," Yusuke explained. "He says it was a fluke but—"

"—It was a fluke," Hiei suddenly growled out, only peeking at Yusuke before returning to his food as if he never said anything.

Yusuke pursed his lips but didn't say anything for a minute. "You know…now that I think back on it…you were pretty damn psychotic…" Yusuke trailed off, looking up at the ceiling for a minute. "I seriously thought you were going to wind up in some spirit world asylum. You should have seen him, Ayumi. Eyes gleaming, maniacal cackling, long winded speeches about world domination. It was pretty bad." The blush had returned to Hiei's face however small it was, but he set his mouth in a tight line and didn't say anything.

"Glad I wasn't," Ayumi admitted, laughing a bit. Hiei was intimidating enough as it was, and she'd hate to see what he would have been like if he was their _enemy._ "So what happened after you got the three artifacts back?"

"Kurama and Hiei wound up in prison, but Kurama made a deal with Koenma. Basically they would help me out on cases and such as 'community service', and there slate would be wiped clean."

"A very lenient sentence," Kurama concluded, eyeing Hiei out of the corner of his eyes. Hiei just glowered darkly at the fox youkai, his jaw clenching and unclenching. "Eventually we wiped our slates, so we don't technically have to help Yusuke out anymore. But, we choose to."

"Okay then, so what kind of demon are you?" Ayumi asked Kurama.

"Well, my demon energy allows me to manipulate plants. As for the 'kind' of demon I am, it's a bit harder to explain."

Hiei scoffed. "No it's not. You were a fox demon, the infamous thief Yoko Kurama of Makai. After three hundred plus years of thieving you finally got caught, nearly died, and forced your spirit to flee and hide within the body of a human baby. Instead of leaving that body to retain your Yoko form, as you _should_ have done, you chose to stay for whatever the sentimental reason was. Seventeen years later, here you are as both the fox demon Yoko Kurama and the human boy Shuichi Minamino."

Kurama made a face at Hiei's explanation and Ayumi stared at Kurama in wonder. "You're…over _three_ hundred years old?" she asked, eyes wide as saucers. Kurama nodded, still clearly miffed with Hiei's brief summary of his entire life. "Wow, that's kind of cool. So then what are you?" she asked, turning to Hiei. He bristled at her question and mashed his teeth together in annoyance.

"None of your—" he started, unable to finish what he was saying because Kurama cut him off.

"Hiei is, essentially, a fire youkai. Quite some time after his birth he sought out a demon surgeon to have the Jagan eye implanted," Kurama said, motioning towards Hiei's bandana, which Ayumi instinctively leaned in closer to inspect. Hiei growled at her and she sat up properly again, giving him a ginger smile. "The Jagan has given him other abilities besides his fire techniques, including psychic properties. He also has the ability to absorb and essentially become the Dragon of the Darkness Flames."

"That sounds impressive," Ayumi said, trying to at least get him to stop glaring at her. It didn't work, and he narrowed his eyes to boot. "Really, fire techniques sound really awesome. Must be a great gift," she said, but Hiei's face darkened at her words.

"It's not a gift, it's a curse," he said hotly. Everyone at the table got quiet and looked at him, and Yusuke titled his head to the side.

"What do you mean?" he asked. Hiei looked to him, ready to tell him to mind his own business, but the look on his face made him stop. He recalled their conversation from earlier and frowned, debating something internally. Finally, he looked Yusuke square in the face.

"You already know what my true breed is, don't you Detective?" he asked nonchalantly.

"The ice koorimes."

"Key word being 'ice'. I was born with a nature in direct opposition to my breed, and that was unforgivable. Aside from being male, the ice koorimes couldn't have a _fire_ youkai in their tribe. That is why they cast me from the island when I was a baby, that is why I was deserted and despised by my own people, that is why I am called the Forbidden Child." Hiei's voice had gone incredibly low and despite him being a fire youkai Ayumi couldn't help but hear the ice in his words. Not that she could blame him. That sounded horrible.

"Your fire abilities are apart of you, Hiei," Yusuke said, ignoring the way Hiei's eyes flashed with annoyance. "How can you hate something that's apart of you?"

"Yusuke…" Kurama said quietly, trailing off. It got awkwardly quiet while Yusuke and Hiei had a seemingly intense conversation with their eyes, and Ayumi couldn't help but looking back and forth between the two. Yusuke finally let out a sigh and sat back, shaking his head a little.

"So, Kurama's a spirit fox with the ability to control plants, Hiei is a fire youkai and I guess a bit psychic, Kuwabara is human with the ability to harness his energy into a weapon. What about you?" Ayumi asked, turning to Yusuke and hoping the tension would break.

Yusuke's face relaxed a little as he answered, "I'm a bit more complicated. I already told you that I died once already and Koenma revived me. I was granted with the Spirit Gun, which I already showed you. This last case we had was against a former Spirit Detective named Shinobi Sensui, who went rogue some years ago. He was trying to create a hole in the barrier to allow the stronger demons to come to the human world, by using a Kuwabara's new sword."

"New sword?" she asked, turning back to Kuwabara.

"I got this new sword that gives me the ability to cut across dimensions, exactly what Sensui needed to cut a hole in the barrier," Kuwabara explained. "Of course I wouldn't willingly do it, so he was going to have this other monster eat me to retain my ability, but then this idiot here decided that if he got himself killed he would get Kurama, Hiei, and myself angry enough to take on Sensui," Kuwabara said darkly, poor Yusuke getting heated glares from all three boys.

"Why did you do that?" Ayumi asked him.

"You're at your strongest when the people you care about are hurt, it's just a fact," Yusuke said quietly. "I couldn't take on Sensui by myself, and I thought their powers together could do it, they just needed a push. So I allowed Sensui to kill me."

"Yeah except it backfired! Not only could we not beat through Sensui's sacred energy, but I was so gosh darn mad that I did wind up willingly cutting through the barrier JUST so I could get my hands on that guy!" Kuwabara shouted.

"Anyways!" Yusuke yelled, that vein in his forehead popping out again. "Turns out that my ancestral father is from the demon species Toushin, and his particular bloodline contains a sleeper gene called Mazoku, and that demon gene is passed down weirdly through this thing called…uh…what's it called, Kurama?"

"The atavism of the Mazoku," Kurama answered, placing his head into his hand.

"Yeah. So basically my demon energy kicked in, jump-started my heart, and I was back to life for the second time. But I'm also still human. So, I'm basically like a hybrid."

"Still human at heart, even though it beats like a demons," Kurama murmured, smiling kindly at his words, knowing it was the truth. Yusuke grinned and shrugged.

"Awesome. So what's next?" Ayumi asked, eager. But Kurama gave her a stern look and her face fell. "Oh, right. Can't take on too much at once. Guess that's enough for one day." Everyone finished eating and helped with the dishes, before a thought occurred to Ayumi. "Yusuke, do I get to meet this boss of yours?" Before he could answer, a voice behind them nearly startled them all.

"You get to meet him right now."

* * *

**Final A/N: **Hey guys! Just wanted to give you a quick overview of the foods Kurama made for everyone who isn't familiar with Japanese cuisine. Most of them are typical Japanese breakfast items, though they're not always eaten together like that. But since it was a big group and they have different taste, it would make sense that Kurama made a wider selection than normal.

**Okayu: **Japanese soft rice or porridge. Either eaten as a breakfast item, or something great to eat while you're sick as it's rather light and easy to digest.

**Tamagoyaki: **Literally 'grilled egg', this is a type of omelette that's made by rolling several layers of egg together, usually in rectangle omelette pans called makiyakinabe.

**Miso Soup: **A personal favorite of mine, miso soup is made of moso flavored broth with a any wide variety of vegetables thrown in, but it's most commonly used with chunks of tofu and sea vegetables. Seriously, it's kind of delicious. And when I say kind of, I mean totally and completely.

**Smoked Salmon: **Everyone knows what smoked salmon is, but I just wanted to point out that yes, fish is eaten for breakfast in Japan.

**Tamago Gohan: **A popular breakfast food consisting of cooked rice topped or mixed with a raw egg, soy sauce is optional but personally recommended. It's pretty yummy as well.

**Benishoga: **Red colored pickled ginger. This is usually shredded and used as a garnish in many dishes, but some people like to eat it by itself, referring to it as light and refreshing. I've personally never had it, but I do have a friend who is in love with the stuff. And I don't know why but I can just picture Kuwabara liking this particular item.


	9. Infection

**Author's Note:** Time for another snazzy update! I hope you guys are enjoying so far. Thank you so much to those who have reviewed so far. I seriously love reading your comments.

**Disclaimer: **If you recognize it, I don't own it.

* * *

**When The Sun Goes Down**

_Chapter Nine_

Ayumi didn't know what to make of the man now standing in Yusuke's living room. On the one hand, he had the structure of 'royalty'. Fair skin, light brown eyes, even lighter brown hair that was short and shorn at the nape of his neck, the kanji 'JR' was pronounced on his forehead, and the air about him was…well, princely. Although, she had to admit, the blue pacifier in his mouth was a little weird.

"Nice of you to show up," Yusuke told him, leaning heavily against the wall. Ayumi's attention suddenly turned to Yusuke's slumped form and she narrowed her eyes. What was wrong with him? She didn't have very long to wonder before his visitor gained her attention once more.

"You know your window's broken?" he asked casually, ignoring the short glare Yusuke sent him. He shrugged, and turned his eyes to Ayumi. "You must be Ayumi, my name is Koenma." The realization that she was talking to the God of death, not to mention judge of the dead, made her cheeks tint pink a little. She bowed from the waist in respect before straightening up again, tipping her head lightly to the side.

"Hello," she said a little timidly. Koenma tipped his head slightly as well, as close to a bow as any mortal would ever receive from him, and smiled kindly.

He took a look around to the other occupants of the room before sighing and placing his hands in his pockets. "I bet you're feeling a lot like Alice."

Ayumi blinked, wondering who Alice was. It only took her a second to realize what he was talking about. "I imagine Alice's rabbit hole wasn't quite like this," she said with a small laugh. Koenma smiled but didn't comment further on the matter. Instead, he turned to Kurama.

"What do you think?"

Kurama didn't hesitate before answering, "All things considered, she's handling it rather well. So far, anyways."

"Does she know who she is? Or who Demetri is, for that matter?" Kurama shook his head no. "And if I should decide to tell her?" The fox youkai grimaced at the question, shaking his head a little.

"I don't think—"

"Answer me," Koenma voice cut in clear and ringing with authority.

Kurama's gaze sharpened as he looked back at the prince. "She'll handle it." Koenma seemed satisfied with the answer and turned his eyes back to Ayumi. Yusuke let out an annoyed snort and let his face settle into a look of boredom.

"Don't be so melodramatic, binky-breath." Ayumi's eyes widened at the insult and she turned to give him an incredulous look. His face didn't change and he didn't take the insult back.

If Koenma heard the insult, he didn't acknowledge it. Instead, his eyes zeroed in on Yusuke's stomach. "You look sick," he commented lightly. Yusuke's eyes narrowed and he forcefully pushed himself off the wall, coming to stand at full height.

"You remember that ceremonial blade we gave you? Was there anything on it?" he suddenly asked, making Ayumi's eyebrows rise in surprise. To her it was a completely random question and she had no idea what he was talking about, something she feared would be common while hanging around with these people.

"No, but I suspect you know that since you didn't have any trouble with your shoulder wound." Koenma's gaze dropped then to the floor while he thought of something, making him frown. His eyes locked with Yusuke again and he asked, "Was it the same kind of knife?" Yusuke nodded. "You look sick, Yusuke," he said again.

"Tch, why are you always so damn annoying?" Yusuke asked, taking a step forward. As soon his foot hit the ground, his vision blurred and the room started to spin. His face went slack and a surprising whine came from his throat before he started to tilt sideways. Hiei, the closest to Yusuke, caught onto him before he could hit the ground and helped him to stand upright again, but it was easy to see that all of Yusuke's weight had been transferred to the hiyoukai. Kurama rushed to Yusuke's side as well, and together the two moved Yusuke to the couch and laid him on his back.

"What's happening to him?" Kurama asked, turning to face Koenma with a hardened look in his eye. Ayumi didn't understand what was happening. Yusuke said he wasn't feeling well, but the way he grasped at his stomach and looked to be in immense pain, she wasn't sure what to think of it. She quietly moved to the arm of the couch closest to Yusuke's head and bent down, moving Yusuke's hair out of his eyes.

"You're not just not feeling well, are you?" she asked softly. Yusuke grit his teeth and looked at her, but didn't say anything.

"It's that wound, isn't it?" Kuwabara asked, suddenly at Yusuke's feet and reaching for his t-shirt. Yusuke gripped his hand to stop him, a pained look in his eye. Ayumi wondered what wound he was talking about, and suddenly she was overwhelmed with worry.

"Koenma." Kurama's voice was sharp and Ayumi glanced at him, almost taken back by the sudden shift in Kurama's demeanor. His eyes, usually so bright and kind, turned to stone and ice before her eyes. She felt like an ice cube had been dropped down the back of her dress and she shivered, scooting closer to the couch and Yusuke's head.

"You said Demetri has a Necromancer working for him?" Koenma asked, looking past Kurama and to Hiei. The small demon nodded in confirmation. "And it's been two days since you've seen any corpses walking around here?" The question was aimed at Kurama now, who, like Hiei, nodded yes.

"What does that have to do with—" Hiei started, but Kurama's soft intake of breath stopped him from finishing his question. There was apparently an understanding between Kurama and Koenma as he quickly turned to Yusuke.

"Can you stop it? You have to stop it," Kurama said quickly, lifting Yusuke's shirt up and motioning for Koenma to come forward. The Reikai ruler stepped closer over the now writhing Yusuke, who had begun to sweat. The wound had opened again and was bleeding through the gauze, and Ayumi's eyes widened at the sight of it.

"I can contain it, for a while. But I cannot stop it," Koenma said gravely, closing his eyes for a moment.

"Stop what?" Kuwabara asked, eyes widening as he looked to Kurama. Koenma stared at the wound in Yusuke's stomach and then looked at Ayumi.

"He's a lot smarter than we gave him credit for," Koenma said softly. "That's why there hasn't been any other threats since Thursday. There's no need. The threat is already a lot closer to home." His gaze turned back to Yusuke. "I suspect the reason he intended for Hiei to be his victim is because it spreads easier for someone who already has darkness in their heart. Hiei would have already turned by now." Hiei didn't say anything, but instead looked at Yusuke with a look in his eyes that didn't quite have a name.

"Turned? Into what?" Ayumi asked.

"A walking corpse," Kurama said dully, looking to Koenma. Yusuke yelled out in pain and started to convulse, blue tribal markings starting to fade in and out on his skin. "The Mazoku is fighting back, but it will not save him. Contain it," he said quickly, eyes never leaving Koenma. After a second of deliberation Koenma took the blue pacifier from his mouth, bending over Yusuke and holding the pacifier directly above the wound.

"What…the hell are you…doing?" Yusuke asked between breaths, still writhing in pain.

"I thought you wasted all the energy in there on Sensui?" Kuwabara asked, leaning forward to get a better look.

"It gains power every second it's in my mouth. It's been months since Sensui's death," Koenma explained, focusing his energy. A soft green light came from the pacifier and surrounded Yusuke, Koenma contorting and reshaping the energy so it formed a gridlock pattern that covered Yusuke's abdomen. The light touched Yusuke's skin and his eyes widened, sucking in a deep breath as the light penetrated the skin and seemed to dissolve into Yusuke's body. He convulsed once, twice, and then let out a grunt of pain before lying completely still. "There, it is done."

"How long?" Kurama asked.

"That depends on Yusuke. He has to fight. As long as he does, the energy will contain it. The more his strength and will falls, the more it will spread." He stared at Yusuke for sometime, and tipped his head to the side at his blank expression. "Ideas?"

"We have to kill the Necromancer," Hiei stated as if it were obvious.

"That's suicide," Kurama interjected, turning to look at the hiyoukai. "Necromancers are from an ancient bloodline, killing them is nearly impossible."

Hiei growled at Kurama and shot an aggravated look at him. "I am _not_ going to just let him die," he hissed through his teeth. "If you have a better idea, now's the time to speak up. If not, I believe I have some hunting to do." Kurama gave Hiei a pained look, but said nothing.

Hiei turned to leave, but Koenma's voice stopped him. "She can heal him." All eyes went to Ayumi and she felt herself flush, fidgeting under their intense gazes. She was barely following along as it was.

"Healing techniques won't work on this infection," Kurama insisted then, looking Koenma in the yes. "If it would, we could just get Yukina to heal him." But Koenma was shaking his head, and something dawned on the kitsune then. "You mean…because of what she is? How does that work?"

"You have to understand, Kurama. The reincarnate of celestial objects aren't like normal demons or apparitions. Her healing light doesn't have the same limit because she essentially _is_ light. She doesn't have to use demon or spirit energy for her powers, instead she has to use her life energy because she literally has the life energy—" he explained, Kurama cutting him off at the last second.

"—Of the sun. I think I understand," he started, turning now to look at Ayumi.

"This is a waste of time. Even if she has the power to do what you're saying, it doesn't mean she currently has the ability to bring it out," Hiei interjected.

"She healed you, and herself," Kurama reminded him.

"On accident," he seethed.

"We need to go after the Necromancer," Kuwabara said then, gaining everyone's attention. "If what you say is true, then Ayumi can stay here and look after Yusuke, and if she can, she can heal him. But if she can't, we need to kill that Necromancer. I mean either way that Necromancer has to die. That's the only way, right?" he asked, looking to Hiei. "Killing the Necromancer will stop whatever it is that's inside of Urameshi?"

'Yes. It's the Necromancer's energy that's feeding the infection. No Necromancer, no energy, no infection," the hiyoukai answered. Kuwabara stood up then and nodded, looking down at Yusuke.

"Then I agree with Hiei. We need to take him down."

"It is _not_ that simple," Kurama started, but Kuwabara gave him a look that made the redhead snap his mouth shut.

"Yes, actually, it is. I'm not saying that taking him down is going to be easy, but it is the simplest option. Hopefully it won't come down to that," Kuwabara said, looking to Ayumi. "Hopefully Ayumi can tap into her powers before we probably get ourselves killed. But if not, then we'll be taking the only other route available."

"For once, I completely agree with the oaf," Hiei said heatedly. "Yusuke would agree as well, and if it were up to him he'd already be heading to Makai. We're wasting time."

Yusuke coughed and managed to weakly say, "Can you assholes quit talking about me like I'm not here?"

"Oh, shut it, would you Urameshi?" Kuwabara shot at him.

The Toushin grit his teeth in annoyance. "I do _not _want you guys getting yourself killed just because—" he started, not getting the chance to finish his question before Kuwabara cut in.

"I said _shut up Yusuke. _You risk your life for everyone all the time regardless of how it will affect everyone around you, so you don't really have a say in the matter if we wanna do the same." Ayumi had never seen Kuwabara like this, and she wasn't sure what to make of it. He looked so determined and yet grave at the same time. She also knew there was no use in trying to change his mind. Yusuke saw this and sighed, turning his eyes towards the ceiling and clenching his jaw in agitation. Koenma's eyes never left Ayumi's, and he suddenly bent down to her level where she was still crouching next to the end of the couch.

"What do you say? Will you help us?" he asked softly.

"I don't know how," she said quietly, swallowing the lump in her throat. "I don't even fully understand what's going on, and I don't know how I healed Hiei or myself. And my grandmother…"

"Your grandmother will be dealt with," Koenma started, suddenly turning to Hiei.

Before he could say anything, Hiei acutely glared at him. "No."

"Just do it," Koenma retorted, narrowing his eyes at Hiei. Hiei mashed his teeth together.

"My Jagan was not meant for—"

"Just do it, Hiei!" Kuwabara yelled at him, a bright yellow aura starting to surround him. "You said it yourself, we're wasting time." The hiyoukai was taken back by Kuwabara's sudden outburst of energy, and with a scowl he ripped the bandana off his head. Ayumi watched as a slit in his forehead opened up to reveal a purple eye that began to glow blue, emitting a weird electric buzzing sound. His red eyes shut and he allowed himself to see the world through the Jagan.

"She will believe that Ayumi has come home. She will have dinner and believe Ayumi is eating with her. She will go to sleep believing Ayumi is in her bedroom asleep as well. Until Ayumi actually returns to her apartment, her grandmother will believe that Ayumi is there with her and that everything is normal," Koenma instructed to Hiei. The Jagan continued to glow and Ayumi blinked in wonder at it. After a minute, it stopped glowing and slowly shut as Hiei quickly placed the bandana over it, roughly tying it at the back of his head.

"It is done, now let's go." Hiei was suddenly at the door, looking back towards Kuwabara and Kurama.

"Stay here with Yusuke and take care of him as best you can. Keep him engaged and talking, let him teach you how to focus your energy and focus on trying to heal him. We'll be back as soon as we can," Kurama told her. Ayumi swallowed the lump in her throat and nodded. The three left then, and Ayumi was left alone with Yusuke and Koenma. Yusuke let out a groan of pain and clenched his eyes shut. Koenma's eyes softened a little at the sight as he bent over Yusuke.

"What are you looking at?" Yusuke asked weakly, attempting to come off as rude.

"Sometimes I forget how young you are," Koenma answered quietly. "And yet you always seem to come back to this position, don't you? Life hanging in the balance, fate of the world presumably on your shoulders, the people you care about in jeopardy." Yusuke's eyes slightly narrowed at his boss, wondering where he was going with this. "I've never apologized. I've never said thank you."

"I guess that's what happens when you're a spoiled little brat," Yusuke offered, earning a small smile from the Reikai prince.

"Fight hard, do you understand me? Don't die."

Yusuke closed his eyes for a moment and breathed in deeply, opening his eyes, eyeing Koenma with an obvious look. "Always. Now, get away from me. You're invading my personal space."

With a scoff, Koenma backed off and turned to Ayumi, a small smile on his face. "Take care of him, okay?"

She nodded, but called out to him as he turned to leave. "Wait…could you…please explain to me? At least…what I am?" Koenma sighed and placed his hands in his pockets, giving her a curious look.

"You feel safe when the sun is up, don't you?" he asked, catching her by surprise. It was true, she had always felt safe and at peace from dawn until dusk. And she had always felt nervous and afraid when the moon was out, but that wasn't something she told anybody besides her family. "It's complicated, but you are the reincarnate of the sun. Demetri, the guy who tried to kill you, is the reincarnate of the moon. You have something he has never had, and something he desperately wants. He'll go to any lengths to get it, and if he does, well…world ending consequences would ensue. I'm assuming anyways. That seems to be the goal for most bad guys."

"But…I've never shown any sort of…powers that you keep talking about. I've never done anything," she explained, still not understanding.

"Your powers have been dormant. I'm still not sure why, there are still a few things that are missing in this story and I'm not sure where the answers are. But I'm still looking."

Ayumi looked to the floor and nodded, asking one more question. "Why is he trying to kill me? What does he want?"

Koenma closed his eyes and turned to leave, stopping at the door. "Your light," was all he said, suddenly disappearing in a flash of green light. Ayumi stood with wide eyes at the spot where he just was, and after a while she looked back to Yusuke who looked positively drained. With a sigh she turned and fell to her knees in front of the couch, tilting her head to get a better look at Yusuke.

He smiled weakly at her. "Guess it's just you and me now."

"Guess so," she replied softly.

* * *

**Final A/N: **Viola! I hope you enjoyed it. Please be kind and leave a quick review before you take off. Have a fantastic day/evening!


	10. Caretaker

**Author's Note:** And here is another installment! Thank you SO much for those who have reviewed so far. It really means the world to me and it inspires me to keep on going, even if I am a bit slow at it. xD. As always, I hope you enjoy and your reviews are greatly appreciated, so don't forget to say a few words before you leave!

**Disclaimer: **If you recognize it, I don't own it.

* * *

**When The Sun Goes Down**

_Chapter Ten_

Ayumi had dragged the spare futon out of Yusuke's room, moving the kotatsu table forward to make room for it directly in front of the couch. After that, she grabbed Yusuke's pillow and the blanket off his bed, carrying it out into the living room. She gingerly lifted Yusuke's head and set his pillow underneath, and then covered Yusuke with his blanket. She didn't pull it above his waist, however, when she noticed nobody bandaged the wound back up in their haste. Frowning, she retrieved the first aid kit, but before she could start on the wound, there was a knock on the door.

"Uh, were you expecting anyone?" Ayumi asked, raising an eyebrow at him.

"It's Keiko," he whispered, eyes trained on the door.

"Oh," she responded quietly, standing up and quickly rushing to the front door and opening it. Keiko stood there with a blank look on her face, only offering a half-smile to Ayumi.

"I ran into Kuwabara and the others, and they told me what happened before they took off. Can I see him?" she asked, and Ayumi quickly stood aside and let her in.

"Of course," she murmured, watching as Keiko went straight for Yusuke, quickly kneeling before him.

"I have pajama shorts and a shirt you can wear to bed, Ayumi," Yusuke said, motioning towards his bedroom with his hand. Ayumi nodded and excused herself, leaving the two alone.

* * *

"Look what you've gone and done to yourself," Keiko said quietly, inspecting the wound on his abdomen. Yusuke managed to give her a weak grin and shrugged.

"It's not as bad as it looks." Keiko ignored this and instead opened up the first aid kit Ayumi left, starting the process of cleaning it up. "I swear, I think everyone has cleaned and changed these bandages at least once," Yusuke told her, more than annoyed at the offending wound.

"I know you said that I shouldn't be here right now—"

"And yet here you are."

"—But when Kuwabara told me what happened…I just…" Keiko trailed off, a frown on her face. "We always come back to this, don't we?" she asked, sounding rather small. Yusuke's eyes softened and he reached up to push her hair, which she had started to grow out again, back behind her shoulder. Instead of retracting his hand, he simply let it rest on the side of her neck, his thumb idly rubbing her skin.

"I'll be okay," he whispered to her, hoping she wouldn't worry. This was one of the reasons why he had told her not to come near the apartment about a week ago. The other reason was because it wasn't safe, now doubly so since there was a very real possibility that Yusuke could turn into a walking corpse and try to kill her. "You know I only don't want you here because it's not safe."

She swallowed the lump in her throat and nodded, finished taping a piece of gauze over the wound and cleaning up the mess, shutting the medical kit. Once she was finished she looked down at the hands in her lap, swallowing the words she wanted to say and instead just sighed and looked back up at Yusuke. "I know, and I'll leave. I just…want you to be safe." Despite the blush that suddenly showed on her face, she looked at Yusuke with a determined look.

"I know…" he said quietly, feeling embarrassed and momentarily forgetting the pain in his stomach. The two sat in silence for a moment before Keiko sighed and leaned forward, laying her head on his chest and listening to his heartbeat, which always sounded off to her ever since his last case.

"How's the new case coming along?" she asked.

"It's pissing me off," he answered honestly, earning a small smile from her.

"So as usual, then. And Ayumi?"

Yusuke frowned and pursed his lips at the question. "Well Ayumi's fine, I suppose. She's handling everything a lot better than expected, though in all honesty I don't think it's quite sunk in yet."

Keiko lifted her head, confusion on her face as she asked, "So what's got you so upset then?"

"My friends are about to go fight some ancient monster that's apparently incredibly difficult to defeat while I just sit here and do nothing," Yusuke said darkly, a large lump forming in his throat. "I don't like it."

Keiko's expression changed from confusion to understanding and she offered a comforting smile. "Your friends are strong, Yusuke."

"But what if—"

She stopped him by placing her fingers against his lips, silencing the distressed teen. "You're always there for them, Yusuke. You always protect them. Let them protect you for once." The two sat in silence for a while after that, and eventually Yusuke let out a tired sigh and closed his eyes. "I'll let you get some rest," she started, quietly standing up and taking Yusuke's hand into her own. "Will you let me know that you're okay?"

"Of course…" he told her quietly. She smiled softly and leaned down, pressing a chaste kiss to his forehead before hurrying out of the apartment. Yusuke ignored the heat that pooled beneath the surface of his face and looked up at the ceiling, his mind traveling far away from his body and lingering on the fate of his friends. Eventually, Ayumi brought his attention away from his thoughts as she entered the room once more clad in one of his white t-shirts and a pair of clean blue striped boxers that nearly came to her knees. She locked the front door, frowning in annoyance at the still broken window.

"Guess that was kind of pointless…" she muttered to herself. Yusuke watched her with curious and tired eyes, waiting for the past few days to really sink in. As far as he was concerned, she was taking things a little _too _well. She situated herself on the futon cross-legged and ran her hands through her hair, pulling it back and beginning to French braid it, eyes on Yusuke now. "Is Keiko okay?" she asked curiously.

"As okay as she can be," Yusuke answered quietly. He wasn't feeling too hot at the moment. "Are _you_ okay?"

Ayumi blinked at the sudden question, considering how Yusuke was the one who was actually hurt and all, but she shrugged her shoulders a bit nonetheless. "I suppose I'm as okay as I can be, too." Her fingers finished braiding the end of her hair and she quickly tied it, tossing the finished braid back over her shoulder and letting her hands fall into her lap. "Yusuke…" she started, eyes cast downwards and her voice quiet. "I know everyone thinks that I can somehow heal you, and I…I've been thinking about how I did it earlier. And I've been trying to bring out…something. But nothing seems to be working and I don't know what to do."

Yusuke's eyes furrowed in slight annoyance. "Ayumi, it's not your responsibility to heal me. They shouldn't have told you that. You're brand new to this, and you don't even know what you are or what you're capable of. Hell, I don't even really know what you're capable of."

"But if I really do have the ability to heal you, and it turns out that I just couldn't get to that power, how am I supposed to forgive myself knowing that it was my incompetence that allowed you to die?" she asked hotly, her hands balling into fist in frustration. Yusuke mustered up the meanest scowl he could make at the moment.

"You know, you really should be more worried about what will happen to you if this disease does its job. Hiei, Kurama, and Kuwabara are going to fight this thing, and his death is what will heal me. So that's not what you should be concerned with. What you should be concerned with is making sure you get the hell out of here if I start changing."

She still looked upset with herself and bitter about the topic, but instead of retorting she simply asked, "Changing?"

Yusuke looked pretty grim. "Do you remember those things that were chasing you?" Ayumi nodded, a lump of fear forming in her throat. "That's what I'm going to change into if they don't kill the Necromancer." Her eyes widened at the news and she looked up at him once more. She swallowed the lump in her throat and took in a shaky breath, suddenly holding her hands over Yusuke's stomach. "What are you doing?" he asked her.

"I can do this. I can do this…" she mumbled, talking to herself more than Yusuke. The Toushin sighed in frustration.

"You have no idea what you're doing," he chided.

Ayumi huffed in annoyance, tears springing to her eyes as she retracted her hands back as if they had been burnt. "So what am I supposed to do Yusuke? Am I just supposed to let you turn into one of those _monsters _just because I don't know what I'm doing?" She was clearly upset, and Yusuke had a feeling the careful calm she had been building up was about to get knocked down. "What did I do to deserve this? What did I do?" she whispered to herself, her eyes closing as she covered her mouth with her hand.

"It's okay—"

The dam finally broke. "No! Don't say that! Don't tell me it's okay!" Ayumi started to shake as the tears finally fell from her eyes. "Everyday I keep finding out weird things about the world that I live in and I keep finding out that nothing is what I thought it was. I've been lying to my grandmother and to my friend at school, I now have to keep a constant eye over my shoulder, I am terrified all the time now," she started, beginning to sob uncontrollably now. Yusuke looked at her with a patient expression. "You and your friends have done so much for me and you keep putting yourself in danger because of me and right now all I want to do is help you because you don't deserve this, Yusuke. You don't deserve to be turned into a zombie because of me. And I used these powers that I have, I used them! I healed myself and I healed Hiei. I'm fine and he's fine but the only one who isn't fine and the one who needs my powers the most is you and I can't help you!"

At this Ayumi stopped talking all together and placed her face into her hands, crying hard into them and wishing for this nightmare to be over. She felt Yusuke's hand settle on her shoulder in comfort and she instinctively moved closer and placed her forehead against his side. The two sat in silence for a while as Ayumi continued to cry into her hands. Eventually Yusuke's hand wound up on top of her head, petting her fly-aways back into place. The motion was soothing and Ayumi's cries turned into soft hiccups every now and then.

"I know I told you about the first time I died, but I didn't really tell you what it was like," he finally said with a quiet voice. Her head slowly lifted and she peeked at him, her eyes now red and puffy from crying and her face a little swollen too. "One second I was pushing that kid out of the way, and the next second I felt pain, and then there was nothing. I got up as if nothing had ever happened, only to realize that I was watching the paramedics pull a sheet over me and place me in the back of the ambulance after they declared me dead."

Ayumi frowned a little, sniffling. "That must have been a bizarre experience."

"I honestly didn't have much time to concentrate on it," Yusuke admitted. "Botan was there before long and explaining to me that I was a ghost. Next thing I know, I get thrown into this strange world with strange rules and strange creatures. Creatures I never knew existed." He was attempting to explain that he felt the same thing she's feeling now, and it actually made her feel a little better. "I found out things about myself that I never would have found out otherwise. It's overwhelming and it's scary sometimes."

"Do you regret it?" she whispered, but Yusuke shook his head.

"I wouldn't change a thing. If I had to do it all over again, I would. In a heartbeat. As overwhelming and scary as it can be, it's also the most gratifying thing. I belong to this existence. To be who and what I am, to have the job that I do, to have the people in my life that I have, and to fight against some of the toughest people in the universe. It's right and it's awesome." He couldn't hide the satisfaction in his voice and it made Ayumi smile a little.

"Wow. I've never heard you talk like that. You act like you hate what you do."

Yusuke offered a wry smile. "Koenma irks the hell out of me sometimes. He's over seven hundred years old and doesn't know how to have emotional attachments. For the longest time everyone and everything were just pawns to him. But I do love my job, even if it is overwhelming. Just don't tell anyone I told you that, yeah?" he asked playfully. Ayumi smiled at him and nodded, wiping away her tears with the back of her hand.

"That sounds almost sad…" she said then, causing Yusuke to furrow his eyebrows in confusion. "Not being able to form emotional attachments. That sounds like a sad existence."

Yusuke's face changed to an expression of understanding. "Yes, it does. Alright, let's step away from the serious talk for a while," he started. She laughed and agreed, sitting back a little now. He removed his hand from her head and placed it over his chest, concentrating on something. After a moment it passed and he relaxed, and she guessed he was concentrating on fighting a wave of pain. "I'm going to teach you about energy now. So pay attention, because I'm only going to explain this once."

* * *

"Where are we going?" Kuwabara asked, the trio of fighters making their way deeper into Makai.

Kurama answered him. "The Necromancer is somewhere in the West, and my guess is it won't be hard to find him."

"Why do you guess that?" he asked, wondering how much Kurama knew of the situation. They hadn't been in Makai for very long but Kuwabara was willing to bet that Hiei and Kurama had done more than enough 'research' regarding this entire mission. He didn't have to wait long for a reply.

"The stench, the timing, and the convenience of it all."

"Tch," Hiei snorted, offering a cold shoulder to Kurama while moving a little faster so he was ahead of the other two. Kuwabara frowned at the thought. He didn't know what was going on with Hiei other than the fact that he was way more temperamental than usual. If Kurama was bothered by the hiyoukai's actions, he didn't show it.

"The convenience of it all?" Kuwabara asked, wanting to know what Kurama was talking about.

Hiei snapped, "He thinks we're walking into a trap."

"We _are_ walking into a trap."

"That insinuates that we have no idea a trap has been laid. As it stands, it's quite obvious what their plan is, so explain how this _trap _is going to shock and awe us?" Hiei asked over his shoulder, his eyes never leaving the trail in front of him.

"Just because we know it's a trap doesn't make it any less of one," Kurama scolded. "We have no idea what we're about to walk into. That's a fact."

"And why the hell does that matter? Does not knowing what's ahead change what's behind us? Yusuke is going to turn into a corpse if the Necromancer doesn't die. That, too, is a fact. So we have two choices; we kill the Necromancer or we kill Yusuke because once he turns into one of those things there will be no stopping him. Which choice would you prefer?"

Kuwabara watched the exchange with a frown on his face. Everyone's temper was so on the fritz lately and he didn't understand why. He could even see Kurama starting to become frustrated at Hiei, and that was an incredibly rare sight. "There is a third option—" Kurama started, only to be cut off by the hiyoukai.

"I sincerely hope you are not about to suggest that we leave Yusuke's life in the hands of a human girl who—"

"There you go again! You assume that just because she's human that she is—"

"She _is _completely useless. You can place some misinformed faith in her if that's your wish, but don't expect me to do the same. As far as I'm concerned, killing the Necromancer is the only option. No one is forcing you to stay here."

Kurama looked like he was going to reply and both demons looked about ready to start hurting one another. Kuwabara could feel himself starting to get frustrated, and that in it self was frustrating. Letting out a sudden snarl he turned to Kurama and asked, "Aren't you around 300 years old?" Kurama, taken back by his sudden question, simply nodded. "And didn't you just turn 100 not too long ago?" he asked Hiei. The hiyoukai didn't answer, which was all the confirmation Kuwabara needed. "So why is it that I'm the only one not acting like an infant?" Neither demon answered him. "Look, Kurama, if you really feel that Ayumi can help Yusuke, that's great. Maybe she can, maybe she can't. I don't really know. But if you don't want to fight this guy, then you don't have to, the choice is yours."

"Kuwabara—" Kurama started, but Kuwabara wasn't finished with his rant yet and turned to Hiei now, completely ignoring Kurama.

"And _you_," he snarled, making Hiei stop in his tracks. Kuwabara all but stomped up to him and placed his hands on his hips, glaring angrily down at the demon. "We already have this Necromancer, Daisuke, and Demetri to fight. Everyone is stressed out and frustrated and yet you can't seem to help but pick a fight with anyone who comes within a fifty foot radius of you, including us. I don't know why you hate the world and everyone in it, I don't know why you hate yourself so damn much, and you know what? I don't care. If you want to needlessly make yourself miserable then do it without taking everybody down with you.

Right now, my best friend is on the verge of life and death. And guess what? That trumps your emotional state," he continued, jabbing a harsh finger in Hiei's direction and then turning slightly to do the same to Kurama. "And that trumps your intellectual state. Either way this Necromancer has to die, I don't care that you think this is a bad idea, Kurama. And Hiei, I don't care that you don't care about any of us. I really don't. But the longer you two continue doing this crap the less time Yusuke has, and _that _is inexcusable. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have a Necromancer to beat on."

With a final snort he abruptly turned on his heel and stomped off ahead of the trail, leaving two stunned demons in his wake. Kurama recovered first and sighed, shifting on his feet a little. "I forgot how perceptive he was…" he said quietly, mostly to himself. Finally, Kurama quickly made the decision and set out to follow Kuwabara determinedly. Meanwhile, Hiei swallowed the lump in throat as he mulled over Kuwabara's words. On the one hand, he was so angry that he was near shaking and was tempted to leave. On the other, deep in the recesses of Hiei's consciousness, if he left now he knew he'd feel an irrational surge of shame.

"Dammit," he muttered under his breath, suddenly breaking out into a sprint and taking to the trees. He would stay with them and fight along side them, but he was also tired of them. They could at the very least walk by themselves while he ran ahead in the trees.


	11. Feeling Grim

**Author's Note:** Hey guys! Here's chapter eleven. Sorry for the wait. Between the end of this chapter giving me a hard time, the start of the next one, my trip to Boston and then to Georgia, and all the other exciting stories I've got floating around in my head this took longer than expected. Not to mention FFNET is seriously causing me some problems when it comes to logging in and getting the page to load. I can't even...

Anyways, thank you so much to everyone who's read so far and reviewed, favorited, and followed! It means so much to me and I hope you continue to do so. As always, enjoy. :3

Special thanks to my girl **littlemija69** for posting this chapter for me.  
Seriously, FFNET, get your shit together.

**Disclaimer:** If you recognize it, I don't own it.

* * *

**When The Sun Goes Down**

_Chapter Eleven_

Yusuke was yelling in his sleep. Ayumi sat up with a start at Yusuke's strangled yell and she hastily reached for the lamp on the side table and turned it on. His eyes were squeezed shut and his entire body was covered in a sheet of sweat, his teeth mashing together in pain as his body squirmed uncomfortably. He let out another strangled yell and Ayumi quickly shook his shoulder and called out to him, Yusuke gasping in shock as he woke up. His eyes frantically searched his surroundings and Ayumi watched as he let out a breath and relaxed as much as he could.

"Sorry," he muttered. His eyes were bloodshot and his skin was starting to lose some of its color, and his bottom lip was beginning to crack and split. Ayumi got up from the futon and padded into the kitchen, coming back to his side only a moment later with a glass of ice water and helping him sit up enough to drink it. After nearly emptying the glass, he laid back down with a grunt.

"I'm sorry you're in so much pain," she told him quietly, wishing she could do more to help.

He peeked at her from half closed eyelids. "It's really not as bad as it seems. Grandma's caused a lot more damage than this." Ayumi didn't really know who 'grandma' was, but she didn't have time to ask before the doorbell rang. It was then that Ayumi noticed the dim blue light of morning. Letting out a soft noise of surprise she got up and opened the door a little, peeking her eyes out. A rather colorful woman with blue hair and lavender eyes greeted her, a friendly smile on her face.

"Well, hello there! You must be Ayumi," she said enthusiastically. Ayumi blinked a few times in confusion and didn't say anything, nor did she open the door any wider. "Oh! Silly me," the woman started, placing a hand over her mouth as she giggled into it. "I'm Botan!"

The name rung a bell but Ayumi couldn't quite remember where she heard it. "Who?"

"Well, you would probably know me better as the Grim Reaper," Botan answered casually. It clicked and Ayumi remembered the boys mentioning her and she opened the door completely, bowing to her and hiding the redness in her face. Now she knew why the boys were so vague about Ayumi's description about a black-cloaked skeleton carrying a large scythe. Ayumi noticed she was carrying a medium sized blue duffel bag that looked familiar.

After standing up, she smiled in a friendly greeting. "Nice to meet you." Botan placed a hand over her heart and tipped her head, her own version of a bow before holding out the duffel bag.

"You as well. I brought you some of your clothes!"

Ayumi was a little taken back by the wide grin on her face. Was she always this happy? "I see that. I'm not sure how you got into my apartment, but thank you. Come on in," Ayumi offered, watching the strange girl as she nearly bounced into the room. She set the duffel next to one of the single couches and hurried to Yusuke's side.

"Oh, you poor thing! You're not doing real well, are you?" she asked with a touch of concern. Ayumi shut the door and padded back over to the two of them.

She stepped up next to Botan just as Yusuke opened his eyes to glare at the ferry girl. "Don't say 'you poor thing' in that annoying whiny voice. And I've had better days," he said in response to her rhetorical question. Botan rolled her eyes.

"And here I was thinking you were in some real trouble. But I can see that since you're still perfectly capable of running that smart mouth then you're obviously just faking this whole thing," she insisted, placing her hands on her hips and tilting her head to the side, her pony-tail falling over her shoulder. Ayumi stared at it in wonder, tuning out the conversation around her, never seeing anyone with blue hair before. She wondered if it was natural. She stepped back in momentary surprise when Botan's eyes were suddenly very close to her own.

Botan waved her hand frantically in front of Ayumi's face. "Earth to Ayumi!"

Ayumi blinked a few times and blushed, shaking her head to clear it a little. "I'm sorry, did you say something?" Botan didn't answer right away and instead seemed to be inspecting Ayumi's condition, which was a little nerve wracking.

Finally, with a coy smile, Botan responded. "Why don't you go take a shower and wake up a bit? Then we'll see about getting some breakfast. I don't typically have a physical body, and it's always so ravenous when I first get it."

Ayumi looked from Yusuke to Botan, and eventually shrugged. "Sure, I guess that sounds good. Thanks for the duffel." Ayumi picked up the bag and left for the bathroom. A shower would do her some good, after all.

* * *

"The boys have made it into the Necromancer's territory," Botan said quietly, sitting cross-legged down on the futon Ayumi had been sleeping on. Yusuke's eyebrows furrowed down in worry and he groaned, incredibly agitated about the whole situation.

"This whole thing is just complete bullshit."

"I know you're worried about them—" Botan started, Yusuke cutting her off a moment later.

"This guy is really strong, and what the fuck are they going to do if Demetri is there? Or Daisuke? Or both? I feel like I just sent my best friends to their deaths over this damn disease," he seethed, suddenly falling into a coughing fit. Sweat began to form over his skin, yet Yusuke felt he was freezing. Botan frowned and gently pressed her hand to Yusuke's head.

"You're burning up, Yusuke."

After he finished coughing, he accepted the rest of the water he had from Botan and finally fell back against the pillow with a groan. "Tell me something I don't know. I'm fucking freezing."

"You have to trust them."

Yusuke narrowed his eyes at her. "What?"

"Hiei, Kurama, and Kuwabara. You have to trust them, Yusuke. Do you remember what they went through when you died? How powerful they became?" she asked, hoping to make her point. Yusuke scowled and looked away from her, but didn't say anything. "You help them so much. You're always there for them and you're always the one fighting to save everyone. It's their turn, and they're happy to do it. You have to trust that they can handle themselves, especially when it's your life on the line. They won't give up, and neither should you," she finished with determination in her voice. Yusuke looked at her through narrowed eyes and mumbled something inappropriate. Botan just giggled behind her hand. "I'm going to assume that's your sickness talking, because I know your normal sweet self would never say something so mean." She completely ignored his death glare.

* * *

Ayumi finished getting dressed and started brushing her hair out, not really seeing what she was doing despite looking in the mirror. Her mind was a million miles away at the moment. Everything still felt like a dream to her, like it wasn't real, or like it was happening to someone else. With a quiet scoff Ayumi discarded the notion. This was happening to her whether she liked it or not, and right now she was sitting here brushing her hair while Yusuke was slowly being turned into some kind of zombie and the other boys were off to fight the head of this zombie army. She suddenly set her brush down a little harder than she meant to, glaring at the offending item. She needed to be doing something more useful.

She held her hands out in front of her, palms up, and concentrated. She remembered what Yusuke had told her about spirit energy and how he brought it out. For him, it was like pulling everything he had into his pointer finger and then pulling the trigger in his mind. He told her it would be different for her in detail, but at least it was the same concept. She concentrated on her hands, focusing on how she felt and pulling it towards her hands. Or at least trying to.

With a scowl she marched out of the bathroom and straight into the kitchen, ignoring Botan and Yusuke's curious stares at her as she mumbled and began banging around the kitchen to make breakfast. She was fairly certain they were thinking she was crazy, and maybe she was and if not she was certainly getting there, but she was just frustrated. She tried not to dwell on it as she went about her routine of making breakfast, trying to get lost in what she was doing. Twenty minutes later and she had her breakfast and Botan's breakfast laid out in front of her. She stepped back in front of Yusuke.

"Do you have an appetite?" she asked. His eyes were dull and he looked exhausted. "Didn't think so. I'll get you some water, try to go back to sleep," she said quietly. She left him for a moment and came back with another glass of ice water, helping him sit up to drink as much as he could handle at the moment. She set it on the side table and then left him to rest, sitting at the table with Botan. The ferry girl leaned towards her plate and closed her eyes, inhaling the scent of the food and making an appreciative hum in the back of her throat.

"This smells amazing," she started. "I can't tell you the joy I get out of being able to eat food again."

Ayumi raised an eyebrow at this. "How long do you usually go without food?" Botan seemed to be thinking about it for a moment.

"Well, I've had food a lot more than I normally would ever since I started working with Yusuke; I've had to take on a human body a lot more than usual. But, the longest stretch I went was three hundred years." Botan then dug into her food, humming in delight and completely missing Ayumi's wide stare.

"You're three hundred years old?" she whispered, her brain not quite grasping this. Koenma was hundreds of years old, Kurama was hundreds of years old, and now this girl who looked to be only a few years older than Ayumi herself was telling her that she was hundreds of years old too?

"I'm five hundred and forty-five, actually."

Ayumi was pretty sure her brain just broke. "Uh-huh," she said stupidly, finally turning to her food and beginning to eat. "I do have a few questions for you, Botan. If that's alright," she finished. Botan looked up at her, blinking a few times in wonder. She smiled then and nodded.

"Sure! I'll answer what I can. After breakfast of course," she said with a giggle.

* * *

"The energy this guy is giving off…not to mention the stench…is going to be a serious problem," Kurama stated, his hands on his knees. All three fighters felt like the closer they got the more drained they felt, and like a chilly cold sweat had crept up their spines and into their brains. It was derailing and a pain. Kuwabara shivered again as an intense 'tickly' feeling crawled all over him. He was far more than creeped out.

"We gotta keep going," he said between clenched teeth. "Don't give up on us."

Kurama chuckled a little. "I assure you Kuwabara, I am not going anywhere."

"And what about you, shorty?" Kuwabara asked, turning to look at Hiei. The hiyoukai was bridling at the cold and letting his youki roll off of him in waves in an attempt to keep himself warm. Unfortunately, this problem was an internal one that wasn't so easily fixed. Still, he glared ahead and didn't answer Kuwabara, stalking forward. They were coming up on the cave entrance. The three of them stood at the mouth of the cave as wave after wave of energy rolled out of the cave, covering everything in a sticky feeling and stench. Hiei gagged behind his cowl. He was so sick of this shit. He let out a fierce snarl and ripped off his bandana. The Jagan opened up wide and glowed blue. He searched for the only living mind within the cave and instantly found it, the mind standing out like a flame against the darkness. Hiei's consciousness tugged on it, catching its attention.

'_Why have you come?' _the Necromancer asked, his voice hardly above a whisper and moving like a snake within Hiei's brain.

'_You have something I want,' _came Hiei's curt reply. Kuwabara, unaware of Hiei's connection, tried to reach out to him to ask what was going on. Kurama's hand caught his wrist and he shook his head.

"They are speaking. Let Hiei concentrate," Kurama said quietly, releasing Kuwabara's wrist.

'_You want the cure.'_

'_No, that's not good enough. Not now. I want your life.'_

A wispy laugh resounded in Hiei's head. _'Such hostility from such a young one.'_

'_I'm also very violent for such a young one. You've awoken from whatever hole you've been hiding in, you've been infecting my home with your foul stench and creatures, those same creatures have come after me three times now, and unfortunately for you the dagger with your infectious disease on it infected the wrong man. And that is unforgivable. There is no getting around it. You will die.'_

There was silence for a while, Aruku-shitai contemplating Hiei's words. _'You are strong for someone so young. You have a purpose in wanting my death. That is noble. But you are also naïve and stupid. Ignorant, like a baby. I will allow you your chance, little one. You, the human, and the spirit fox may all come to me now. I will show you how the world really works,'_the voice started. There was another laugh. _'I will even open the door for you.'_

The connection was cut and the energy coming from the mouth of the cave suddenly stopped, the stench dissipating enough so it was tolerable. Kuwabara let out a deep breath and put his own hands on his knees now, panting like Kurama had been earlier, but f or a different reason. The three ventured into the cave, letting the darkness swallow them.

"Oh sweet relief," Kuwabara said; glad that he could stand up straight now that he had his energy back.

"What exactly did he say anyways?" Kurama asked, curious. Hiei looked at him out of the corner of his eye.

"The short version?" Hiei asked, earning a nod from Kurama. Hiei's lips turned up into a very small smile. "That we're all going to die."

Kuwabara scoffed. "Don't they ever have anything else to say?" He was feeling pumped now and ready to fight. "I don't know what you said to him, Hiei, but thanks." Hiei finally looked at Kuwabara, a look of puzzlement on his face. "What's that look for?" Kuwabara asked.

"Do not thank me, fool. I may have just signed your death warrant."


	12. Consilia

**Author's Note:** Wooh! Chapter 12. The next chapter should be the actual fight...if not chapter 13 than definitely 14 because we also have the zombie chase to get through, which should be fun. xD.

Anyways, thank you so much to those who have reviewed, favorited, and followed! You guys make me want to keep writing instead of giving up. xD. So thank you. Me loves you.

**Disclaimer: **If you recognize it, I don't own it.

* * *

**When the Sun Goes Down**

_Chapter Twelve_

Botan leaned back in her chair, smiling pretty and patting her tummy, which made a show of bulging outwards. "That was delicious! Thank you, Ayumi!" she exclaimed. Ayumi tipped her head to the side and bit back a smile. She was glad Botan enjoyed her breakfast, but these questions were really nagging at her. The problem was that Ayumi didn't know where to start. Should she start with something easy? Or just jump right in despite how complicated the answer might be? Ayumi didn't even know the extent of Botan's knowledge of the situation. She had, after all, just shown up this morning. Maybe she didn't know anything about Ayumi or the situation, maybe she only just knew about Yusuke's condition. "Ayumi," Botan started, catching her attention. "I know you're anxious, but please try to relax. You're going to give yourself some pretty horrid premature wrinkles."

Ayumi scoffed. "I hardly think now is the time to be worrying about wrinkles."

Botan gave her a cute and girly wink. "You say that now, but just wait until they start popping up. Then you'll wish you'd listen to little old me." Ayumi stared at her, and let out a sigh as she chuckled. That did make her feel a little better. Botan smiled. "What are your questions?"

"So, as the grim reaper, you take dead souls to Koenma to be judged or something?" she asked, deciding on something simple after all.

"Bingo," Botan started, pointing a finger at her. "I ferry them. Hence the term ferry girl, which is a bit more accurate than your grim reaper image."

Ayumi nodded. "So, what happens to the souls when you're not there?"

"I'm not the only ferry girl in Spirit World. Koenma allows me to leave my duty to another girl only when there's a case that Yusuke needs assistance on," Botan explained. Ayumi was quiet as she absorbed that information and tucked it away somewhere to go over it later.

"Do you…uh…know anything about me?"

Botan smiled and pulled out a little notebook from the pocket of her jacket. She flipped through the pages and stopped, reading it over it quickly. "Sarumara, Ayumi. Age sixteen. A bright young girl who lives with her recently widowed grandmother and leads a normal teenage life. Mostly average grades, though it indicates here you've got the potential to do more. Hmm, let's see…oh! And your 'problem areas' are that you have a tendency to over think things and you have a hard time accepting things that are not in your control," she finished with a teasing giggle. Ayumi gaped at her with her eyes as wide as saucers, her mouth in a delicate 'O' shape and her face was a little blue. Botan giggled again. She leaned forward, a playful gleam in her eye now, smiling with delight as Ayumi backed up a centimeter. "And your favorite color combination is mint green, creamy brown, and baby pink."

Ayumi squealed and got out of her chair, pointing an accusing finger at Botan. "Okay, now that's just creepy!"

Botan laughed again as her face suddenly morphed into something cat-like and she rose up a paw and batted it at Ayumi, meowing. "I'm a ferry girl. I know a little something about everyone."

Ayumi's eyebrow twitched slightly, in confusion and slight annoyance. "Everyone? That notebook doesn't look that big." Botan's face returned to normal as she waved the little notebook around in the air in front of Ayumi's face.

"Oh ho! You needn't worry about such things like that," she said, quickly shoving the notebook away again, a devilish smile still present on her face. Ayumi felt…. exasperated.

"Botan, stop torturing the poor girl," Yusuke's voice rasped out. The girls looked towards Yusuke, both with concerned expressions. Yusuke had broken out into a cold sweat and his skin was starting to take on a grayish tone. His eyes were starting to become sunken in, and it sounded like it was getting harder for him to breathe.

Botan tipped her head to the side and managed to smile a little. "We'll let you get some rest. Come on Ayumi, we can talk in the bedroom." She grabbed Ayumi's hand and led her from the living room, quickly pulling her into the bedroom and shutting the door. Ayumi took a look around Yusuke's room, never really noticing the things that were in it before. For the most part, it was a pretty bare room. There was the bed, a desk, and a dresser with a small bookshelf on top of it. On the bookshelf, rather than books, were pictures. There was one of Yusuke and Keiko, one of Yusuke and the other boys, a group photo of everyone, including two women that Ayumi hadn't ever met or heard of. And there was one of Yusuke and his mother when he was a child. Ayumi turned back to face Botan, only to find the ferry girl leaning against the door with her arms crossed, a look of sadness on her face.

"Botan?" Ayumi asked, concerned.

"He's dying. I can feel it," she whispered, closing her eyes. "We have to do something."

The frustration Ayumi was feeling earlier came back. "I've been trying," she started, her fist clenching. "I don't know how." She thought about another question she wanted to ask, but she was worried of how complicated the answer might be. "How do you bring your energy out? How do you get it to work?" Botan blinked and looked at her, a little confused, making Ayumi blush a little. "You…uh, have spirit energy don't you? Yusuke said that everyone has it."

"Yes," Botan stated. "I just don't know what you mean by get it to work."

"Koenma said that I have the ability to heal Yusuke. To bring out whatever it is that's hurting him and changing him, but I can't…get it to work," Ayumi said, frustrated. "Yusuke says that he gathers all of his energy into his finger and pulls the trigger in his mind to release it. But that doesn't work for me. How do you do it?"

Botan was smiling sadly now, shaking her head. "Energy doesn't work like that, Ayumi. You can't force it, and you can't bring it out by using somebody else's method. You have to find your own way and if you try to force it, it'll be that much harder to use. Spirit energy can be a very fickle thing," she explained. "It isn't as simple as wanting to use it. I use my energy as a way of healing and guidance because that's what I feel in my heart. It's unique to me and only to me. Just as yours is unique to you and Yusuke's is unique to him."

Ayumi looked a little deflated. "I'm never going to be able to do this."

Botan chuckled a little. "Nonsense," she started. "I _can_ tell you that spirit energy tends to be heavily based on emotions. And I believe yours are locked up tight. Remember what I said about your problem areas? You have a hard time letting go of things you can't control." Ayumi's eyes widened at this and she looked down at her hands again. "Just let go, Ayumi." There was a loud thump outside and both girls looked at each other for a split second before racing back to the living room. Yusuke was still on the couch, but he was glaring hard at the door.

"The energy barrier is starting to weaken. One of them has gotten through," Yusuke said, his voice a harsh whisper.

Botan held her hand out and Ayumi watched in awe as her hand began to glow yellow, sparks of electricity seeming to shoot off the pads of her fingers. A second later and a bat was formed out of yellow energy, which finally solidified into an aluminum bat that Botan gripped and slung over her shoulder. "Not to worry, I'll get the sucker. Stay quiet," she insisted, bending low and inching towards the window that was still missing the glass. She pressed up against the wall and got into position while Ayumi moved to sit by the edge of the couch by Yusuke's head, bending low and gripping Yusuke's shirt for support. She was a little scared. She could hear the low moaning of the zombie that had gotten through, and she could hear it trudging up slowly to the open window.

There was silence for a few seconds, and then the zombie let out a garbled yell and jumped through the window. Ayumi watched with her heart beating wildly in her chest as Botan let out her own yell and swung the bat as hard as she could. The bat hit the zombie right in the stomach, and it flew backwards and onto the walkway on its back. Botan jumped through the window herself and only allowed the zombie to halfway stand up before swinging again. The zombie stumbled back up against the railing and Botan swung one more time, this time hitting it right in the head. It flipped backwards over the railing and sailed back down towards the ground with a growl. Breathing hard, Botan quickly retreated back into the apartment.

"You've got one hell of a swing!" Ayumi yelled, staring at Botan with wide eyes. She smirked and set the bat over her shoulder.

"You have no idea," she responded with a knowing look in her eye. Yusuke scoffed.

"You're lucky that zombie had no idea you were there and lucky that you stunned it enough to pull that off. You won't be so lucky next time. You guys are wasting your time here," Yusuke growled out. Botan frowned at him.

"You're attitude is really souring, Yusuke. The more negative emotions and thoughts you let cloud your mind the faster the disease will spread," Botan explained, but Yusuke glared at her.

"Shut up. I know that," he said between clenched teeth. He was getting worse and they all knew it.

"He's right though," Botan started, turning to Ayumi. "More will break through now that the energy barrier is weakening. We have to get out of here." Ayumi gaped at her, already shaking her head before she could finish.

"Botan, I can't leave Yusuke here."

Botan laughed a little and held her hand out again as the bat disappeared. "I never said anything about leaving Yusuke here, silly girl." Yellow energy surrounded her hand again and with a quick electric spark she was now holding an oar. Ayumi was confused. Botan quickly stepped back through the window and hopped onto the oar side-saddled as it started to float. Ayumi gaped at her again. "We're going to take him to Genkai's. More than that, I'm taking _you _to Genkai's. You're no longer safe here. I have a plan," she explained, lowering her voice so only Ayumi could hear her. "They won't go after Yusuke, not when they know he's turning into one of them. There's no point. But he's resisting, and their orders are to take you back to Makai alive. And they'll try to do it whether Yusuke is one of them or not. So you and I will go on my oar and fly to Genkai's, which will also act as a decoy to keep them away from Yusuke, just in case."

Ayumi didn't know who Genkai was. "So how is Yusuke getting to Genkai's then?"

Botan smiled again. "Shizuru and Keiko are going to drive him there."

"Who?" Ayumi asked, lost. She knew who Keiko was at least.

"Kuwabara's older sister. I don't have time to explain everything, you just need to stay here and stick close to Yusuke. Try to keep him positive and distracted. The more the disease spread through him the fouler his attitude will get, so be patient with him." She started to drift off into the air. "And Ayumi!" she called back, smiling once more. "Don't be afraid!"

* * *

"Look, I'm not saying I'm afraid of the dark. I'm just saying it's getting really hard to see," Kuwabara said defensively. The trio had been walking for sometime within the cave, and it seemed to just keep going on and on and never end. What was worse, Kuwabara was right to be concerned. It was getting darker, and not just in the traditional sense. The air seemed thick with it, almost as if it could reach out and brush against the three fighters. It was giving Kuwabara the chills and making the two youkai very uncomfortable.

"It appears we've come across a bit of a puzzle," Kurama stated, coming to a stop. Hiei stopped beside him while Kuwabara kept walking, looking back at the two with confusion.

"What are you talking about? What puzz—" Kuwabara didn't get a chance to finish his sentence, because he walked face first into a solid rock wall. "–Oomph!" he grumbled out, rubbing his face and glaring at the wall. "Who the hell put that there!?" Hiei scoffed with disbelief.

"What the hell is this, Kurama?" the hiyoukai asked, ignoring the human who was still grumbling about his face. Kuwabara may have been whining before, but he had a point. It was getting harder to see, even for the youkai's. Pretty soon even they would be walking blind. As it was, Kurama could only barely make out the rock wall in front of them, and he stared at it with a small frown. "We didn't miss a turn, did we? I swear if this cave turns out to be like the one Sensui was hiding in I'm going to be incredibly pissed off."

"No, I don't think that's it," Kurama started. "There weren't any other turns, otherwise I would have used the plant lights in order to guide us back, or at least tried to. But it's been a straight tunnel this whole time."

"Why aren't you using your light plants at all, by the way? I think they'd be a bit helpful in this darkness," Kuwabara suddenly asked, ignoring the stinging in his face. No doubt it was red, too. He smacked into that thing pretty hard.

"Apart from trying to conserve my energy, I am not actually sure those plants would grow in this place. The cave in the human world still had soil for the plant to grow. I'm not sure what we're walking on, but I'm fairly certain it is _not_ dirt or soil."

Kuwabara could feel a few beads of sweat forming on his face as it turned a little blue, but he refused to look down at his feet. Not that it would matter since he couldn't see anyways. "Do we just destroy the wall?" Hiei suddenly asked, looking for a way around it.

Kurama shook his head, not that anyone could see it. "No, I don't think that would be wise. It's still a cave. Any serious damage to it and it could very well collapse. There has to be something we're not seeing."

Kuwabara scoffed. "Can't you just ask that guy what kind of game he's playing Hiei?" The Jagan glowed bright behind the bandana, but eventually dimmed back to nothing.

"No. He's not in a talking mood anymore. Figures." They all stood in the dark for a moment before Hiei let out a rather annoyed growl. "Fine, let's just do this." He tore his coat off and let it hit the floor, holding both of his hands in front of him with his palms up. There was a sudden heat wave washing over all three of them as Hiei gathered his youki and fire starting to crackle in thin ribbons over Hiei's arms. The fire gathered into the palm of his hands and finally erupted into full-fledged fireballs, hovering about an inch above Hiei's skin and surrounding his hand in a thin line of red heat.

Kuwabara rubbed his eyes from the sudden light and squinted, looking away from Hiei. "Jeez, I guess that's one way to light the place up."

Hiei stepped in front of the wall and held his hands out, and now that Kurama was able to see, he let out a tiny noise of surprise. "I see. It's meant to ward off visitors. This must be how he's stayed hidden for so long. They reach it and think it's a dead end and turn back, if they even make it this far at all."

"Well how do we get around it?" Kuwabara asked. Kurama placed his hand on the wall and quickly began to feel the surface of it, bending low to the ground and doing the same thing. After a few moments of nothing happening, Kurama let out an impatient sigh.

"Come on," he started, beginning to flatly push against the rock wall with his hands. "There has to be a way in." He shoved his hands and attempted to push the wall. "If I could just—" he gave one last hard shove and before he could finish his sentence the wall turned like a revolving door, pulling Kurama in. He let out a startled cry and Hiei allowed the fire in his hands to disappear. He quickly grabbed onto the back of Kuwabara's collar and leapt forward, latching onto Kurama's ankle just as the rock wall turned completely, pulling all three boys into the crevice it had formed and back out the other side. All three wound up in a jumbled pile on the floor, the breath knocked out of them. It was an incredibly tight fit.

Kuwabara sat up with a groan. "Okay, that one hurt a little." He suddenly felt heat burning at his side and with a yelp he hopped up onto his feet and stumbled away, gripping his side. "What the hell was that?"

Hiei got up with a snarl, his hands still emitting a red glow. "What the hell do you think you idiot?" Kuwabara looked hurt.

"What was that for?" he asked.

"For sitting on me," the hiyoukai seethed, standing up and brushing the dust off of himself. Kurama got up as well and gripped his head, groaning a little.

"That was unpleasant," he said mildly.

"Now how are we supposed to get out?" Kuwabara asked, pointedly ignoring Hiei now. Kurama gave a look back at the closed wall and narrowed his eyes at it.

"We can just blow it up for all I care," he muttered, clearly annoyed at the offending object. Hiei raised an eyebrow at him.

"What happened to the cave collapsing?" the hiyoukai asked.

"If we even make it back to this point, it won't matter. We'll be leaving. I just didn't want us trapped in here on the way in." He dusted himself off as well and with one last glare towards the wall he began to head deeper into the cave. "Let's just go."


End file.
